One of the best times to fish is on a rainy day. Changing weather and cloudy skies trigger the bite. So when the weather forecast looks grim for most activities, grab your fishing stuff and head for the lake.

Kathy Magers Nice rainy day bass!

 

If you're a newcomer to bass fishing, one of the best investments you can make is in a good quality, leak-proof rain suit. Forget the inexpensive "ponchos" on the market - they become useless when the wind picks up. A good rain suit has a flap-covered, zippered front, Velcro adjusters at wrists and ankles, dry pocket flaps and waterproof sealed seams all the way round. Affordable, high quality rain suits can be found online, in mail order catalogs and sporting goods stores.

 

One of the worst things about rainy weather fishing is that no matter how great your rain suit is, a lot of anglers end up with sloshy shoes. Did you know that most of the big discount stores carry a little known product called clear shoe covers – AKA "rain boots?" Covers one size larger than your shoes slip on much easier – even over bulky shoes – and they really save the day – or week – if you’re fishing a multi-day event – because wet shoes seldom dry over-night. 

The number one fishing tip for rainy weather is darker lures.... any color is fine as long as it's black. Okay - as long as it's dark and preferably opaque- like green pumpkin, because bass have a hard time seeing lures in low-light conditions on rainy days. Historically, one of the most productive color combinations on rainy days has been black and blue - with lizards and jigs being top producers on springtime rainy days. My personal favorite is June bug. If the water is muddy – add color to the equation – like brightly colored lures – chartreuse and/or orange which “shout” color.

The lake level is another important rainy day consideration. A lot of reservoirs are purposely maintained at low levels throughout the winter months in anticipation of heavy spring floods. Draw-down lakes as they're called, have long-extended points and bare shorelines. But be prepared for Mother Nature and the quick hand of the dam engineers (that's dam as in what holds back the water.) In a matter of only hours a lake can rise from a few inches to several feet and the fish you had located out on the end of the point will have relocated into the shallows.

Where do fish go when the lake level comes up? They come up, right along with the water level. Fish that were out on the ends of points before will move in shallow and take residence under that newly flooded shoreline brush. Fish that were holding on a 15-foot deep ledge may move up to 10- then the 5-foot ledge above it. Remember when the level is changing - you should be changing (depths) too.

To find the lake level, you can simply mark something on shore, near the boat ramp and check it out each day as you launch. Or you might take mental notes while driving down a lake - noting water marks on bridge pilings or other easily recognizable landmarks.  I’ll share an embarrassing lesson I learned early on as a beginner:  I marked the water level inside my marina boat slip in Missouri. Everyone was abuzz all week about the rapidly changing lake level scattering the fish. I disagreed. Each day, as I got in my boat, I checked the mark I'd made on the dock. And it hadn’t changed a bit. Then, it hit me: I had marked the styrofoam deck instead of a metal post – and, oops, yes, it was a floating dock! Lesson learned.

The final rainy weather consideration is water clarity. It gets worse after spring rains, especially if you're fishing a river system where the current flow can pick up momentum and rush down stream for miles to have a "flushing" effect on the lake. On man-made lakes, major feeder creeks are usually first to muddy-up. Find smaller creeks to fish. Usually the lower end of any lake remains clear longer than those up lake. If the entire lake is muddy, search for the clearest water you can find and/or the water that is expected to clear first.

When facing muddy water conditions, forget quiet, finesse presentations like Carolina rigging, which actually requires good visibility to be productive. Instead, try lures that create noise and vibration so bass can find them easier. Douse them with spray-on scent like garlic, shad or crawfish. In muddy conditions, covering a lot of water is more productive than slower, more patient techniques. Lures such as spinnerbaits, lipless cranks, and buzz baits work well. 

To summarize muddy water fishing tips- remember, fish can’t see the lures so do everything possible to make them easier to find – from using dark or bright colors, to noise-makers and spray them with scent. Those three things will improve your catch in rainy weather and dark water. 
  
Good fishing... and remember, what matters most isn't the size or number of fish you catch, it's the memories you make. Don't forget the camera!