Finding Spawning Beds in extremely Muddy Water

[WIUbassin]

Its obvious that sight is key in fishing clear lakes for spawning bass. But do you have any "Tips, Tricks, or Techniques" that you use when locating spawning bass in water with about 6inches of clarity?

[zooker]

i never been good at finding them in muddy water clear water yes..

zooker

[texasbasser]

My lake is normally 5+ feet visibility but with all the rain were having this week, its about 2 feet is the best butit gets much worse in some parts of the lake. One thing that i found is watch the water carefully, and, if it isnt windy, you can see light swirles on the surface. These are 2 bass doing their thing.

[ihateforwards]

Oh, another way to find out is just to "fish the lake/reservoir/sea/pond". What I mean by fishing the body of water is just cast a lure or live bait once or twice in an area, then cast into a different area the next two casts, then switch again. If you get a bite on one side, try that side again for another few casts. Keep in mind if this is only if you don't have a GPS system.

[WIUbassin]

Originally Posted by ihateforwards

Oh, another way to find out is just to "fish the lake/reservoir/sea/pond". What I mean by fishing the body of water is just cast a lure or live bait once or twice in an area, then cast into a different area the next two casts, then switch again. If you get a bite on one side, try that side again for another few casts. Keep in mind if this is only if you don't have a GPS system.

That might work but correct me if I'm wrong but a bedding female won't chase after a bait unless it is right in her small bed, so I would hope that there is a better technique than just casting randomly around a lake. Especially when it is 250 some acres.

[ihateforwards]

Ah there's a problem, my method only works in a small pond. Then again... couldn't you chum the area? I know it's mating season and they won't go for it as actively as they should, but it works. Bread's buoyant, and you'll see the bass eat the bread, or you could take a lure and try to disturb the fish's nest. But that's hard since you can't see anything, but I'd just go around and aggressively twitch my rod near the bottom of the lake or reservoir. Get a deep running lure on your rod or something.

[ILfishinman]

what ive been doing is just hopping a paca craw across the places where i saw old beds at when the water was clearer and lower last season.

[Jolly]

When we fish way up creeks for bedders, the water is extremely muddy. In order to find these beds, we cast into places where beds should be. We flip on top of rocks, behind trees (shore side of trees), etc; basically everywhere a bed is supposed to be. Also we look for dark shadows in the water (obviously). I usually throw a 4" white senko drop shotted using a pretty heavy weight (1/2 oz) and a 10" leader. Also, we use a white jig or white craw when flipping for beds. White so we can see it and the fish can see it in the muddy water. You won't find 1/10 of the beds you would with clear water but you can find some fish, you'll just have to work for em'.

Hope this helps,

Jolly

[Super Fluke]

I just try on structure and get them

[lizardsrule]

Originally Posted by Jolly

When we fish way up creeks for bedders, the water is extremely muddy. In order to find these beds, we cast into places where beds should be. We flip on top of rocks, behind trees (shore side of trees), etc; basically everywhere a bed is supposed to be. Also we look for dark shadows in the water (obviously). I usually throw a 4" white senko drop shotted using a pretty heavy weight (1/2 oz) and a 10" leader. Also, we use a white jig or white craw when flipping for beds. White so we can see it and the fish can see it in the muddy water. You won't find 1/10 of the beds you would with clear water but you can find some fish, you'll just have to work for em'.

Hope this helps,

Jolly

Good tips, also if there is vegetation, try to look where a little pocket is in there. The fish will clear out the vegetation for their beds, and many times that is easier to spot.

Lizards

[flbassman]

hmmmm....that's a good question. I can find 'em when it's clear, but I never really have any luck in the mud. You might try fishing likely areas with a light t-rigged lizard on braid, and sorta feelin your way across the bottom.