Fishing flooded areas.... How and when!

[Mojo1]

I'm in the Nashville area and it seems that we won't be putting a boat in for a while. Is there any use bank fishing? How do fish react in this sort of situation?

Thanks!

Mojo

[Bass XL]

Try a frog worked over everything. With the exception to a jig, this is the most productive technique on my lakes when the water is high.

[TXBasshunter]

I have had great success fishing flooded timber with tx rigged craws with the weight pegged, something with orange or chart claws.  Then on flooded grassy areas I have had great success with a buzzbait.  Hope that helps a little.

[garland7]

When the water is up like that, the fish will scatter. you will need to use some search type baits. Also keep in mind if your fishing flooded timer, some of the same rules apply as anywhere else, look for points, pockets, depth changes etc.

[Sam]

Here is what I have found when it floods.

1.  Bass will tend to go into the bushes and hold in areas that can be very difficult to get your bait into.

2.  Bass will tend to stage in the area of the original bank before flooding so be ready for strikes in the area of the original bank.

3.  As the water moves out of the bushes as the level decreases the bass will move with it and the bite will pick up.

4.  If you have an overcast day the bass will move around within the new flooded areas and also out a few feet from the new shoreline and will swim in front of the newly flooded areas such as parallel to the bushes or flooded bank.

5.  If you have a sunny day the bass will tend to go into the bushes or under any other structure they can find.

Fishing flooded areas can be great. New areas for the bass to forage for crawfish, shad, bluegills and other yummy morsels.

Try wacky rigged plastics; shaky heads; Senkos; Texas rigged pastics; and flick shakes.  Use crankbaits to parallel the bushes and tree line.

Throw a spinnerbait into the newly flooded areas and bring it back. Try a white one with a trailer hook and depending on the cloud cover either silver or copper blades.

A buzzbait early in the morning and late in the evening can produce strikes. Throw it into the newly flooded areas and bring it back with the understanding that the bass will hit the buzzbait after it has cleared any cover or structure.

Remember, this is new territory for the bass so the big ones will take up the favorite spaces moving the smaller bass either to other areas or into deeper water.

Good luck and let us know how you do.

[wannabeangler]

Ever since I saw a picture of a guy holding a bass next to a stop sign, I've always wanted to catch a bass in a flood zone.

Last September when Atlanta flooded, the lake I fish most was 18 feet over pool and the entire park, parking lot and bridges were completely underwater. I spent 2 weeks solid working submerged playgrounds, trees, bushes, picnic tables, parking lots, etc. and completely blanked. The hardest part for me was the mud and washed up forage. The place was super-saturated with crawfish and frogs making meals easier to come by. That combined with 0" of visibility and floating debris everywhere made it ridiculously tough.

Guess I'll just have to wait for the next 30-year flood. Good luck to ya'.

[b.Lee]

Ever since I saw a picture of a guy holding a bass next to a stop sign, I've always wanted to catch a bass in a flood zone.

Last September when Atlanta flooded, the lake I fish most was 18 feet over pool and the entire park, parking lot and bridges were completely underwater. I spent 2 weeks solid working submerged playgrounds, trees, bushes, picnic tables, parking lots, etc. and completely blanked. The hardest part for me was the mud and washed up forage. The place was super-saturated with crawfish and frogs making meals easier to come by. That combined with 0" of visibility and floating debris everywhere made it ridiculously tough.

Guess I'll just have to wait for the next 30-year flood. Good luck to ya'.

That sounds like a lot of fun actually.  If you lost a lure on a swing and waited for the waters to recede and then you just get it back LOL

[jesse D.]

does the water look like its going down day by day?

if so the bass will begin to congregate around the outer bushes making it easier to cast to them.

but if this is a recent flood then the bass will be way back in the thick stuff.