Muddy Water Fishing Virginia Article

Tips for Muddy Water Bass

Don’t stay home just because a winter storm has turned your favorite lake into mud hole. Adjust your approach and use the dirty water to your advantage.

Bass fishermen’s conversations too often turn to doom and gloom when winter storms deliver rivers of mud to their favorite waterways. While it’s true that many tactics don’t work well when rivers and lakes muddy up, other approaches work better than ever. Let’s look at some tactics that work when mud takes over.

-Pretend it’s a Summer Night – A BOOYAH Moontalker, a big spinnerbait that was designed for slow rolling at night, is an ideal big-bass lure in extreme mud because the oversized Colorado blade creates tremendous “thump,” allowing bass to find it. With the boat close to shallow cover, pitch the bait into the thickest stuff you can get it through. Start reeling right away, turning the handle just fast enough to keep the blade spinning and the big bait off the bottom. Use at least 20-pound-test Silver Thread and a rod with a lot of background.

Think BIG – Bass need something they can find when the water’s really muddy, and they won’t expend the energy required to feed in cold water if the meal doesn’t seem worthwhile. Use 10-inch YUM Ribbontails and 4 1/2-inchVibra King Tubes on Texas rigs, always add YUM chunks, Muy Grubs or other trailer to BOOYAH Boo Jigs and pick spinnerbaits that have big blades.

-Go for Reactions – Bass won’t follow lures to feed in really muddy water. They’ll stay tight to cover will strike only if something is suddenly beside them. Consider presentation angles and get baits as close as you possibly can to the thickest cover you can find.

-Look for the Newly Flooded – When big rains or melting snow cause lakes to suddenly surge, backwaters that have been dry for long periods of time often flood. That dumps new food in the water. Even if most foodstuff is too small for most bass, it attracts smaller fish, which the bass eat, into shallow water. Bass will pile up on any available cover in newly flooded waters.

Watch Your Temps – One great virtue of muddy water during winter is that it the extra particles in the water enhance warming. If the sun has been out a day or two since a storm came through, use your temperature gauge to check out shallow flats in northern coves that get more sunlight and are protected from north winds. If the water is even a couple degrees warmer than most surrounding waters, a flat may be loaded with baitfish and bass, and the fish may feed actively. Fish such a flat with a Cotton Cordell Super Spot.

A Clear Solution – Many lakes begin clearing almost as quickly as they get muddy. As clear water pushes in from the backs of creek, bass often will lie on the muddy side of the edge, waiting to ambush prey in the clear water. Often, you can find amazingly clear water next to water that’s pig-pen dirty. Cast parallel to the mudline on the clear-water side and work a suspending Smithwick Rogue very slowly along the edge.

This article is provided by Lurenet.com and is used with permission. jB0405.