LIP GRIPPER
TACTICS | SCHOOLED | FOOD | DESTINATION | SPL ASH | SKIL LS | RIGGING
[TACTICS]
PIGS LOVE MUD H
BIG BASS LURK IN DIRTY WATER BY TIM PERKINS
ead to your favorite launch ramp on a rainy, windy day and chances are you’ll find chocolate-colored water running over the bank and an empty parking lot. Pack it in and go home? Not if you want to catch a trophy bass. Whether you target largemouth or smallmouth, your best shot at a big bass may be in high, muddy water.
Dirty water limits a bass’ vision and requires the fish to rely on its sense of hearing, smell and movement to find food. In muddy water, a big bass will let down its guard and become an ambush predator. When fishing a swollen river, 2010 Riverbassin’ Trail champion Lance Coley likes the water to be 12 to 18 inches above normal with six to 12 inches of visibility. “The extra water and low visibility will put the fish in a current break behind exposed rocks, grass, stumps or deadfalls,” he says. Matt Frazier, owner of Living Waters Outfitters in Kings Mountain, North Carolina, looks for bass in the mouth of a tributary or around a shallow pocket off the main river channel. “That’s where the water seems to clear more quickly,” Frazier says, “and gives weary prey a place to escape the swift current.”
In lakes and ponds, bass respond to muddy water the same way. Drew Haerer, owner of Froggy Waters Guide Service, says that bass take advantage of new territory that was dry before the rising water. “The fish will move to shallow water,” he says, “look for them on the shoreline or along the first drop.” Casting accuracy is key when targeting bass that are holding in
an ambush point. When fishing a swift river, try to land the lure be- yond the structure and then work it through the current break. On a pond or lake, that can mean throwing the lure under an overhang so it lands at the edge of the bank.
A SPINNER BAIT WORKED ACROSS THE
SURFACE WILL PULL PIGS OUT OF THE MUD. PHOTO: TIM PERKINS
A spinner bait is perfect for fishing muddy conditions because the lure can be worked fast or slow, deep or shallow and through heavy cover. The Premier League River Series model is a favorite that can be customized with different blades, weights and skirts to match the conditions. In dirty water, chartreuse and white are favorite colors. For most conditions, a 3/8-ounce spinner bait is perfect, but in swift current, bump up to a half-ounce model. A six-foot, six-inch Abu Garcia Veritas rod will put the lure in the strike zone and an Abu Revo reel with a 6:3:1 gear ratio will retrieve the spinner bait fast enough to rip it across the surface. Spool the reel with 15-pound test Berkley Big Game monofilament to wrestle stubborn bass out of deep cover. Tim Perkins is a third-generation river fisherman. He pays his passion forward through Riversedge, a guide service that special- izes in taking young anglers fishing. Reach him in Heflin, Alabama at (256) 473-3043.
www.kayakanglermag.com… 33
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