cold rain/muddy water

[darren]

how in the world d i catch fish after a cold rain and the water is real muddy. water temp has dropped to 56 degrees. just a week or so ago there were baitfish everywhere in the coves and were lovin the spinnerbait and crankbait, how do i adjust in these conditions?

[roadwarrior]

Well, there's both college and professional football; baseball

playoffs and the World Series; B-ball and Hockey get underway

shortly.

For fishing, the worst possible conditions.

8-)

[Matt Fly]

When winter conditions set in, I start looking for the warmest water.

   Baitfish will seek the warmest water possible.  

As you noticed, with baitfish present, you had good bite, find the warmest water, that could be in another creek, sheltered from massive runoffs that kept that creek warmer than others.

  Or Creeks or banks that are protected from northernly winds normally are warmer.

   Also, bait fish will go deep if thats where the warmest water is.

  With cold water, slow down, and when you think the paint has dried, then watch rust form on the hook, slow down.

     

[christopherjake]

I'm hoping striper fishing is going to be great this weekend due to the rain.  We shall see.

[Koop]

cold muddy water is not even worth fishing in.  Move somewhere else.

[Grey Wolf]

Those type of conditions are not worth worrying about . Find another place to fish or snuggle up to a good woman if you can find one.

[BassDeaton01]

Sounds like it's time to grab the rifle and head to the woods!        ;D

[Catt]

When winter conditions set in, I start looking for the warmest water.

Baitfish will seek the warmest water possible.

As you noticed, with baitfish present, you had good bite, find the warmest water, that could be in another creek, sheltered from massive runoffs that kept that creek warmer than others.

Or Creeks or banks that are protected from northernly winds normally are warmer.

Also, bait fish will go deep if thats where the warmest water is.

With cold water, slow down, and when you think the paint has dried, then watch rust form on the hook, slow down.

     

X2  

[Uncle Leo]

When winter conditions set in, I start looking for the warmest water.

Baitfish will seek the warmest water possible.

As you noticed, with baitfish present, you had good bite, find the warmest water, that could be in another creek, sheltered from massive runoffs that kept that creek warmer than others.

Or Creeks or banks that are protected from northernly winds normally are warmer.

Also, bait fish will go deep if thats where the warmest water is.

With cold water, slow down, and when you think the paint has dried, then watch rust form on the hook, slow down.

     

X2

I also agree, in the Upper Midwest if you want to fish you will be faced with this. Or you could wait for first ice and grap a bucket. This seperates the men from the boys.

[Crestliner2008]

I don't give up on anything when it comes to fishing. I'd try the deeper holes with stable water. I'd be moving around with a heavy weighted drop shot rig and a 4" Senko wacky rigged on it. Lift and drop. Shorten the hook-to-sinker lead to about 4"-6". That will, at least, make them an offer they can't refuse! If there are any there to be had. Use some MegaStrike on those Senkos too. I do that whenever the water temps go below 60 degrees. But that's just me!  

[WRB]

The best time for me to fish is during the rain; just remember to keep dry, dress warm and use good boating safety.

Moving water creates current and current creates feeding opportunities for predators like bass.

Up size your lures and use brighter contrasting colors during the active period.

When the weather system passes and you are fishing a cold front condition, the aftermath of the a storm, then I agree; slow down and saturate areas that hold prey.

The fall to winter transition period the bass are moving and it can be a trail and error search. Once the bass settle into winter, the deeper  areas will hold more bass and the those bass tend to be easier to locate, using your electronics, in deep structured lakes.

WRB

[Matt Fly]

Texas isn't into a winter pattern yet, so I stay on the bait to find active fish.    

     Rolo wrote a good article about what water does at different stages based on temps and layers.

   One thing to take from that article that applies to mud in the winter.

Cold water is at its dense state, which simply means, it don't allow for particles to mix easily.

Mud warms, it asorbs heat better than clear water.   Bass don't like mud or it is assumed they don't like mud, but when temps are brutal, I like to find skinny muddy water cause a few hours of sunlight can warm an area up a few degrees, a few degrees can mean more active fish.    

     The only time I fish muddy soft bottoms is winter time, I have confidence in two things, a good black and blue jig with good rattles, scent, and the average fish is a solid fish, not normally dinks.

   

[Dalton Tam]

Another thing no one has mentioned is finding runouts. Culberts, beaver damns, overfilled levees, etc. with running water.  I'd head way up the creeks and bayous around here to find a run out if there is current in the water.  The mouths of creeks are good also if the creek has moderate current but not too heavy.  Depending on where you are fishing I'd throw a white pearl crank bait but reel it very slow.  If the water is extremely higher than normal I'd be trying to find some newer areas way back in the brush or cover that you are fishing. (again I don't know what it's like where you are)  Maybe try a big spinner bait half oz. with larger than normal blades (silver).  CHARTREAUS ( if I spelled that right) I can't stress that enough. If these don't get you bit I'd go with what the other guys are saying by using dark black colored plastics and jigs.  Try a Black and Red tube fish it slow and deep around trees and ,if you have them, Rocks are good.  And again I definately agree with finding the warmest water if the runouts don't work for you. Good Luck

[Needemp]

When winter conditions set in, I start looking for the warmest water.

Baitfish will seek the warmest water possible.

As you noticed, with baitfish present, you had good bite, find the warmest water, that could be in another creek, sheltered from massive runoffs that kept that creek warmer than others.

Or Creeks or banks that are protected from northernly winds normally are warmer.

Also, bait fish will go deep if thats where the warmest water is.

With cold water, slow down, and when you think the paint has dried, then watch rust form on the hook, slow down.

     

X2

X4

I also agree with BassinFishinMagician.

[ValkyrieRider]

Sounds like you been havin the same luck as me since the big rain in Missouri. Fishing has been downright terrible. I know where the fish are, they just don't wanna come in the boat.

Fish are scattered, mostly around structure adjacent to very deep water.

We've caught some (very few) small fish holding to the bank, but no good ones to speak of (14-15" max).

Pomme De Terre is clear right now, but the water is VERY high. LOZ is better water level, but the water is real muddy. Truman is similar.

We noticed that when the fish were around, the water temp was the warmest on the lake. Pomme was 64-65 on Monday.

[Matt Fly]

Sounds like you been havin the same luck as me since the big rain in Missouri. Fishing has been downright terrible. I know where the fish are, they just don't wanna come in the boat.

Fish are scattered, mostly around structure adjacent to very deep water.

We've caught some (very few) small fish holding to the bank, but no good ones to speak of (14-15" max).

Pomme De Terre is clear right now, but the water is VERY high. LOZ is better water level, but the water is real muddy. Truman is similar.

We noticed that when the fish were around, the water temp was the warmest on the lake. Pomme was 64-65 on Monday.

Last year, I encountered muddy conditions and cold water fishing on Lake Norfork Ark. for the first time ever last year with 15ft of flooding over pool as well, adding in the upper 40's mainlake temps.  

   First off, I was expecting to be able to read a newspaper at 30ft, I was rigged for super finesse, smallies, ie....light tackle presentations for gin clear waters.

    In short, although very cold rains, the runoff into the lake was warmer than lake temps which attracted the shad to the flooded grass in the back of some creeks that had alot of dead vegitation/tall dead wild johnson grass that acted like a filter to clean the water faster.  

     That little factor, dirty water put me back into my comfort zone, pitching, Flipping skinny waters for a top ten on a lake I never fished before.   By day two, I was dialed in.

       

       

   

[Fat-G]

I agree with a lot of these folks. I pretty much fish any conditions, all year round. And, I have caught fish in basically all of them too. What I do when this happens is throw a smaller profile spinnerbait, preferably chartreuse with gold blades. Another option is to throw a big, brightly colored lipless crank. Fish can be caught, but they are usually hard to come by.

Or, you could just light up a nice cigar and enjoy the scenery

[darren]

thanks guys we are goin to give it a whirl.. i am just goin to make sure we got plently of whisky when we are done and are sittin by the warm fire