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Old 04-30-09, 12:36 PM   #1
OrygunBasser
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Default Fishing in the rain!

This may sound like a strange question from a fisherman from Oregon, but what are some of your tactics for fishing in the rain this time of the year. I'm talking a light rain or shower, not stormy weather!

Fish are on the beds and the water temp was about 60 last weekend. Weather is suppose to change to showers tomorrow and continue through the weekend! Highs in the mid 50's I have a tournament this Saturday on a shallow [average depth 15'] natural mud bottom lake. Structure includes weed flats and a lot of wood and brush around the bank.
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Old 04-30-09, 01:12 PM   #2
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Hi OrygunBasser.. Great question! A light rain or shower will generally activate the bite, unless it follows on the heels of a substantial cold front. When fish are on beds and water temps are in the low-60's, the rain may cause problems with any sight-fishing you are doing. The rippling water caused by the drops of rain may make it hard to see beds and/or fish, and the rain may stain (or worse, muddy) the water making sight fishing even more troublesome.

The good news is that generally you can still find pre-spawn fish with a water temp around 60, especially this time of year. That light rain will activate the bite around points or shorelines leading into back bays or coves where the bass will be predominately spawning. Add some wind to the situation and these prespawn spots will produce even more.

I would suggest lures that will allow you to cover a lot of water in search for those prespawn fish. This time of year I like swimbaits (big and small), jerkbaits and lipless crankbaits (to name a few) for rooting out prespawners on the move. If it's still clear enough to sight fish, a drop shot, jig, craw, tube, or shaky head are good choices. But really, there are so many different ways to sight fish you can't limit your choices to a narrow few. A lot of things can work.

Hope this helps you out some!
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Old 04-30-09, 02:15 PM   #3
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I love fishing in the rain!

Keep in mind that not all bass will be on beds, they do it groups, this way, if all the bass spawn in the same time, than if a cold front or storm with harsh winds will not destory the eggs and efforts off all, it acts as a safety net!

Any ways, the late spawner, or at least of the ones that are not on beds now, with still be active eating up before they have to get on their beds and spawn! for these fish I'll go with something large, and/or top water, around logs and brush, I would have to go with a super shallow cranks, a spinnerbait waked on the surface, buzzbait, buzz frog, and maybe a spro or scum frog if it's not to windy and rainy. If you use a spinnerbait, make sure to go with that has Colorado/Indiana blade(s). I would not use a willow because they're for more flash, and less, and less vibration; you wont be able to get flash from a spinnerbait when it's cloudy and rainy! It also might be a good idea to use colored blades, because again, you wont be able to get flash since it's cloudy!

Hope this helps!

~good luck, and good fishin!
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Old 04-30-09, 05:27 PM   #4
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Originally Posted by Bassboss View Post
If you use a spinnerbait, make sure to go with that has Colorado/Indiana blade(s). I would not use a willow because they're for more flash, and less, and less vibration; you wont be able to get flash from a spinnerbait when it's cloudy and rainy! It also might be a good idea to use colored blades, because again, you wont be able to get flash since it's cloudy!

Hope this helps!

~good luck, and good fishin!
This something I intended to do, but I had forgotten about painted blades and switching to a colorado! Do you think Chartruse or white for a blade color? How about skirt color? We do not have shad. We have Perch, bluegill and trout!
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Old 04-30-09, 05:33 PM   #5
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Hi OrygunBasser This time of year I like swimbaits (big and small), jerkbaits and lipless crankbaits (to name a few) for rooting out prespawners on the move.
Hope this helps you out some!
I have a reasonable selection of large and small swimbaits, I just got a Crappie and a bluegill that I may try! I also have some 6" Shadalicious baits and somw Basstrix 5" Perch. Any other suggestion on swimbaits.
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Old 04-30-09, 06:17 PM   #6
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Originally Posted by OrygunBasser View Post
This something I intended to do, but I had forgotten about painted blades and switching to a colorado! Do you think Chartruse or white for a blade color? How about skirt color? We do not have shad. We have Perch, bluegill and trout!
That's fine!

Most of the places I fish don't have gill either! I use chartreuse/white/black combo, some times I can get a few more bits with a few red strands in their. Since their are perch too, you could try fire tiger. You could also use a white/blue skirt!

As fare as blade colors, I would use orange, chartreuse, White, or red. Try all of them and see what happens, imo it's less important than skirt color.

*Edit*

Kevin, those are some good lookin swimbaits! They're also on sale at LandBigFish.com

~good luck, and good fishin!
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Old 04-30-09, 06:29 PM   #7
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I have a reasonable selection of large and small swimbaits, I just got a Crappie and a bluegill that I may try! I also have some 6" Shadalicious baits and some Basstrix 5" Perch. Any other suggestion on swimbaits?
This time of year I really like the line-thru swimbaits. Some good ones are the Osprey Talons and Warrior Warmouth. Six inches is a good size for prespawners, and don't be afraid to throw a big 8 incher as well. You can try the bluegill around docks (especially the backs of docks for spawners), but you'll do better with standard shad/trout type swimbaits when searching for fish, as opposed to bluegill/crappie shaped ones. Some wind blowing in will really make it worth your while. Rain can help as well.
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Old 04-30-09, 06:59 PM   #8
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to me ther is nothing like fishing in a very light, drizzlely rain. around here the topwater action is great in these conditions. i like everything posted here so far on fishing in the rain.
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Old 04-30-09, 07:18 PM   #9
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I got sent home from work early due to rain. Stopped on the way home and did some shore fishing.
I accompleised 2 things
Got soaked
Lost a Cotton Cordell Jointed Grappler Shad
Bummer
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Old 04-30-09, 09:53 PM   #10
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Me and Buzzy and both our dads when fishing last summer in the rain. aside from a few bites I had on a rage craw, no one got anything except wet. So I can't really suggest anything here except bring rain gear!

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Old 04-30-09, 11:41 PM   #11
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man................ this after noon and evening there was a couple of drizzles here. and the FIRST thing i thought about was this thread. i wanted to go SOOOO badly. but i had some things to do around the house and i couldn't. just wanted to vent a little i guess. hahahahahaha. supposed to rain alittle again saturday i MIGHT be able to go. TOP WATER!
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Old 05-01-09, 10:44 AM   #12
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My partner and I fished in pretty heavy rain yesterday for about 6 hours. We ended up with 20-25 total bass and two pike, pretty good for a lake that I normally struggle on. All of the bass were caught in one big bay that is 4' deep max. The water temp. on the main lake was 59 and in the bay it was 62. Air temp was high 50s. Some of the bass were on beds already but most were just cruising and probably looking for places to make a nest.

When fishing the bass on beds small baits worked best, but the beds were really hard to see so it took a lot of casts to get them sometimes. In the open water soft plastics worked really well, I did best on a Nories Bug, a Paca Crawl, and a Nemesis 5" Sicko wacky rigged. When just covering a lot of water I couldn't get bit on a Manns Baby-1 but my partner caught several on a very compact 1/8 Matzuo spinnerbait.

That's what was working for us anyway, hope that recent information helps since it sounds like a similar situation.
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Old 05-01-09, 11:40 AM   #13
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Default Great thread and timely for me also...

I've been planning on hitting one of the reservoirs Saturday to work alone on some of my new baits and overall technique. Halfway through the week they started predicting light rain for Sat. morning. I'm still going out as long as there's no lightning.

I plan of using my soft swimbaits, dark jigs, and slow rolling some spinnerbaits. Hopefully I'll have a good report.

Thanks,
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Old 05-01-09, 02:25 PM   #14
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This time of year I really like the line-thru swimbaits. Some good ones are the Osprey Talons and Warrior Warmouth. Six inches is a good size for prespawners, and don't be afraid to throw a big 8 incher as well. You can try the bluegill around docks (especially the backs of docks for spawners), but you'll do better with standard shad/trout type swimbaits when searching for fish, as opposed to bluegill/crappie shaped ones. Some wind blowing in will really make it worth your while. Rain can help as well.

Where do you throw swimbaits at, what state
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Old 05-01-09, 02:38 PM   #15
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Where do you throw swimbaits at, what state
Pleasantville, NY

Under there avatar, it will say the location!
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Old 05-01-09, 03:26 PM   #16
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I've always had good success catchin bass when it starts to rain.....really seems to turn the bite on for awhile.....even when a rain shower ends the bite seems to be hot for awhile just after......Needless to say, I don't mind fishin in the rain as long as theres no lightning.
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Old 05-01-09, 04:09 PM   #17
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I'm going to be fishing in rain showers all day tomorrow... There is a 60% chance, so I might put some of these tips to the test as well! From experience for me, plastics usually work very good in the rain but I also love the topwater.
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Old 05-01-09, 05:11 PM   #18
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my most bass per cast are always in the rain. i've had 8/10 casts in about 3 minutes before
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Old 05-01-09, 05:54 PM   #19
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Default Trying swimbaits more...

If I go out in a drizzle tomorrow morning I'll throw some 5" plastic swimbaits like Shadelicious (sp) and Reaction Strike Fatheads. I also bought a 3:16 Mission Fish that I may throw around areas where I think the bass are moving toward the beds.
I'm by no means an expert but there's some logic to them. Most of my colors are similar to trout, bluegill, and golden shiners that frequent the reservoirs by me.

Best to All,
Vinny
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Old 05-01-09, 07:23 PM   #20
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ok, KEVIN, it is POURING down here as i type. thunderstorms, lighting, thunder. heavy rain. it is gonna stop and likely we will have passing rain and some thunder tomorrow. i have the boat ready and hooked up. i am wanting to go in the morning. temps (air) is gonna be in the high 60's low 70's. water will be muddy in some areas, but i think it will be fairly clear in the shallows along the grass lines. the fish have been coming off beds (some are i know), and i have been catching them (before the rain) on a zoom lizard in the grass pockets. is it a safe bet that they are STILL gonna be there after the down pour stops and the off n on rain is here?
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Old 05-01-09, 10:06 PM   #21
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a spinner bait when rain falls on water it distorts the surface just like the wind was blowing against it.. use the lizard go a bit heavier either 14/oz sinker or a short leashed c-rig try something in the 12" leader range..


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Old 05-01-09, 10:10 PM   #22
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Quote:
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Where do you throw swimbaits at, what state?
I throw swimbaits in any state I fish. But my home state is Maryland.

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ok, KEVIN, it is POURING down here as i type. thunderstorms, lighting, thunder. heavy rain. it is gonna stop and likely we will have passing rain and some thunder tomorrow. i have the boat ready and hooked up. i am wanting to go in the morning. temps (air) is gonna be in the high 60's low 70's. water will be muddy in some areas, but i think it will be fairly clear in the shallows along the grass lines. the fish have been coming off beds (some are i know), and i have been catching them (before the rain) on a zoom lizard in the grass pockets. is it a safe bet that they are STILL gonna be there after the down pour stops and the off n on rain is here?
Hi John, that's a tough one. As far as the fish that are on beds, normally they'll stay on the beds through a slight cool down or rain, but any substantial drop in water temp will cause fish to move off the beds and into deeper water. I was on the water 3 days straight immediately after a major cold front last week and saw this happen. A lot of fish at first had moved up and sat on beds, but the cold front came through and it took a 3 day warming trend to really draw them back up in the same numbers.

If most of the fish have moved off the beds already, then most likely they won't move far with a small front. They're going to be backed off the spawning grounds in slightly deeper water, and may even be in transition to other beds. Females will often lay eggs in numerous nests with multiple males. A drop in water temperature during spawn can also cause the eggs to ruin, in which case you'll see a large number of males leaving the nest. It has been my experience that it takes a considerable cold snap to do this, but some lakes are more sensitive than others. Being down South, you guys have a longer spawning season than us up north, so it's always more difficult to judge the predominant stage fish are in or will be in.

For a lake like Guntersville, I would imagine the fish will be pulling off to nearby weeds and weed edges.. and baits like lipless crankbaits and spinnerbaits will be go-to's. They won't be deep like they are in summer, but will be somewhere in-between as they pull off the beds.
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Old 05-01-09, 10:10 PM   #23
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thanks pal. i use a 1/4 oz sinker anyways to puch in the grass. and i was also thinking of the spinner too. again, thanks really! now i gotta get in the hay loft. gonna get up EARLY.
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Old 05-02-09, 12:39 AM   #24
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Bama its a safe bet cause with the possible exception of winter, they are always in the grass pockets on G'ville. Kevin hit on the lure I would use, a big loud spinnerbait. Cover water. You know there are miles of water to cover. If you find a concentration of fish you can then work it more throughly with the worm. I hit Millers yesterday and found fish all concentrated in cuts and chutes where current got pulled through, I know they were bucks off the beds. First found them with a spinnerbait, but ended up catching more on the crankbait as I found the concentrations of fish. Not that I would use a crank on g'ville, just illustrating.

I miss g'ville.
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Old 05-02-09, 08:36 AM   #25
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well, not to steal this thread, but i got run back home this morning. got out and trolled over to the where the lilly pads start, WHAM! a huge bolt of lighting came across the sky. scared the crap outta me. clean out my pants, cranked up, went straight to the peir, loaded up and here i am. cursing of course, lol. waves of thunderboomers, lighting and downpours are gonna be on throughout the day. maybe tomorrow. ain't stupid, crazy, dumb and no walking around sense....but not stupid. useing lighting rods in a lighting storm ain't fun, hahahahha.


ok, back to our regular programming.
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