Water Clarity

[Fishin49er]

After talking about spinnerbaits and blades to match the water clarity. I got to thinking, what is the usual guidelines for water clarity. For muddy, stained, and clear water would depth can you see down for each?

[Jolly]

Great question...no idea!!

Jolly

[zooker]

there is no set guide line as far as i know the water clarity is to variable. you just got to try it to see what works.

zooker

[JB]

I choose gold for stained water, and silver for clearer waters...bigger blades for murky, and tandem silver willow for clear water on windy days with vegetation.

[betursweetbass]

My thoughts about clear water and spinner baits would be to offer the most realistic spinners as possible when the water is clear. The fish get a better look at your lure. When the water is murky or clouded, you can offer something with more vibration and the overall appearence would not be as critical. But, spinner baits are not my strong suit and these are again, just my thoughts. ??

[Fishin49er]

Sorry for the confusion, and maybe there is too much variable as zook said. But i was wondering about the depth you can see down in each water condition, not what blades match each condition. For example in muddy water you could only see down X feet and stained you could see down Y feet and for clear water you can see down anything past Y. Again there might be too much variable involved i just thought there might be some kind of rule of thumb.

[mymomisbecky]

Basically here are a couple rules of thumb.

Clear water - Silver blades, lots of flash, lots of times use willow. Allows faster retrieve. White/Clear skirts. You want to reel as fast as you can. Dont want fish to get a good look at it.

Cloudy water - Chartruese blades, colorado most times, darker skirts. Creating a bigger profile bait for fish to see.

That kind of gives you a general rule of thumb

[Fish2win]

In muddy water I use dark colored skirts witrh copper or gold blades. Skirt that has red,purple,black maybe mixed with chartreuse. In stained water I will use chartreuse or chartreuse and white or white chart and blue with gold blades or 1 chrome 1 gold blade. In clear water I use skirt colors that are translucient. I mix white with colors like grape,watermelon and chartreuse in order to creat a prisim type flash. I may use a solid white or firecracker. I will usually use chrome willow blades in tandem unless I need depth than I will go to a single willow. In Muddy I want a big blade that vibrates a lot.Fish2win

[Rebbasser]

This just proves the point: Ask 100 fishermen a question and you get 100 different answers . Here is my rule of thumb:

Clear water-double willow or small tandem combo, although I have NEVER caught a fish on a spinnerbait in real clear water.

Stained: Tandem-a Colorado or Indiana blade in front of a willow blade.

Muddy-a big, single Colorado blade.

Blade colors:
Sunny-silver
Partly cloudy-gold front blade with silver willow
Mostly cloudy-silver front blade with gold willow
Cloudy-depending how bright it is, a copper front blade with a gold willow, a gold front blade with a copper willow, or all copper.

[JB]

reb,
as a confidence booster, next time your on clear water and the wind is really blowing in on a bank, try that spinnerbait...the chop of the waves gives excellant cover regardless of clear water..my choice is tandom willows in crome, and hammered. Maybe you can make one after ya see one huh

[Fishin49er]

Ok guys sorry for all the confusion, but i dont think yall are getting my question, and maybe it is my fault for the way i worded it. But looking at this not in the context of spinnerbaits and the blade to water clarity. Just looking at water clarity alone. Like my previous example in muddy water you could only see down X feet and stained you could see down Y feet and for clear water you can see down anything past Y. Now yall add numbers to those variables. Im just looking for a guideline to use to distinguish between clear water, stained water, and muddy water. I dont know the best way to ask this question, but this is the best i got.

[Rebbasser]

JB, need to change a skirt and I have that bait-I'll give it a shot!

49er-another rule of thumb I use:

Clear water-natural colors: watermelon seed, watermelon red, green pumpkin, and junebug.

Stained-add some brightness, like chartreuse.

Muddy-depends on the sky conditions. Lighter, bright colors when sunny, darker, more natural colors when cloudy.

[Jolly]

LOLOLOL... Am I the only one that understood what he was asking? That's why I said I have no idea... I can think of no way to quantify specific water clarity. Hopefully someone will understand what you are saying. Maybe next time don't even mention a bait... just water and depth. Man, they see spinnerbait and all start talking about blades... that is funny!

Jolly

[FlyRod]

Originally Posted by JB

reb,
as a confidence booster, next time your on clear water and the wind is really blowing in on a bank, try that spinnerbait...the chop of the waves gives excellant cover regardless of clear water..my choice is tandom willows in crome, and hammered. Maybe you can make one after ya see one huh

Amen, Bro!

A spinnerbait tossed at a wind-blasted bank, especially riprap, has often saved the day for me. It has also been productive at night under similar conditions.
Don't forget to try a large and noisy topwater (Spook or big prop bait) in the "surf" of a windward bank. Killer! Especially on a cool and overcast day.

FR

[Fishin49er]

At least Jolly understands me, i was beginning to wonder if i was crazy or something.

[zooker]

your a bass fisherman -it is a requirement..

zooker

[JB]

..........it was only a matter of time before the two big men of the forum found each other huh rofl

[Rebbasser]

49er, the problem is water clarity is relative.

In my neck of the woods, 3-4 foot visibility is considered by some as gin clear. I consider it clear. In other parts of the country it is not considered clear unless you can see a dime on the bottom at 20 feet.

Same with muddy-when it looks like chocolate milk I consider it muddy, otherwise it is stained.

I use the rule of thumb I posted and experiment to find out what the fish want.

This might help:

http://bassresource.com/beginner/Cho...selection.html

And to be a bass fisherman you don't have to be crazy, but it helps

[zooker]

i seen a gauge rating for water once think it was in bassmaster or infisherman.. if i remember it was using a plastic 10"-12" disc and a marked- in inches- string.. but the last i even heard of it was... oh man easy 15 years ago..

proof that i -the one on the left- am still prutier than you jb -on the right..



zooker

[Jolly]

Well Fishin49er, at least you got some good info on when and why to fish spinnerbaits... maybe time for a new thread entitled "define water clarity." Maybe then they'll start rolling. However, Rebasser is right, it is relative to the lake you are fishing on... the lake we fish on - waters normally clear at 20+ feet of vis, stained 12-8', dingy (sp?- dinjeee) 8-4', 4'- muddy as hell!! But like he said its all relative.

Sorry we couldn't be more helpful,

Jolly

[Fishin49er]

Thanks for the advice guys, i figured there would be too much variable in this type thing. But i figured i would give it a try. And like Jolly said at least i know how to match blades to water condition now.