Water too Clear!!!..............Help Please

[nosaj2]

Hey guys we have not got much rain lately. My local lake is clearer than I have ever seen it. 6-8 feet Getting the fish to bit is painful. I fished from 6am - 2pm today and only caught two small fish. Fishing has really been tough lately. Any help would be appreciated. I fish with 10-12 lb line. today I started with a spook and ribbet this morning. Had two blow ups but no "hookups". fished the banks with shaky head (red watermellon) , white spinner bait with silver blades (caught one on each). Tried jiging a spoon at 20 in 40 feet water. (saw fish suspended on fish finder). Also tried 5/8 oz white spinner bait.. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

[SUPERCHUGBUG]

most of the water i fish is very clear. sometimes 18-20 ft visibility. i use nothing over 8# line. i tend to stick to a basic theory in clear water. have confidence in the area you are fishing, and make long casts. i try to use the lightest weight i can get away with to get a really slow drop. i believe if the water is clear, they can see it from further away, and will come to the bait. try 5" wacky rigged senkos in really bright colors. seems to work well for me. the more clear the water, the brighter i use. try the lemon colored senkos, these things have been a great find for me this yr, and really produce in clear water. good luck, you'll figure it out.

[BigCheese]

The best advice I can give you is looooonnnnnng casts with light line 10lb test is the max 6 or 8 is preferred. Ever once in awhile it gets like that on Santee in the fall. When it is I have to fish cypress trees from 30 yards back. I figure I lose a year off my life every fall because catching 6 lb fish on 8lb test and spinning rod makes my hart beat a little fast

[Ouachita]

I fish a highland reservoir in central Arkansas that has ultra clear water most of the year. Most of the colors I use are very natural, not really specific colors, always somewhat camouflaged. Watermelon red flake with chartreuse tail is very popular among us locals hitting the lake often and boating bass. That's been the best choice around green submerged vegetation for 2-3 years. Newcomers try all the new wild stuff. Waste of money and fishing time. Pumpkinseed mixes are great for a brown bottom and following a rain with stained or dirty water before it clears back up.

Bass are much more likely to know you are around when the water is clear, the reason you were advised to make long casts. Also, one post-spawn is over you can speed things up because bass metabolism is cranked up. Meanwhile the key is to fish very slowly with pauses and sinking baits. Bass can see any movement for a lot longer distance than you can. Try switching to fluorocarbon or hybrid line to reduce the possibility the bass are line shy. They might not see clear mono while it is still, but any line that moves will be detected. Avoid noisy baits. In clear water excess noise often turns the bite off. Save noise makers for low visibility water.

I do a lot of drop shotting, more each year. Any method of finesse fishing will produce best in clear water from pre-spawn through post-spawn.

Jim

[nosaj2]

Thanks guys, I was doing some of this. I probably should have been throwing a senko instead of a shaky head. I always fish a yozuri hybrid. But I should have stuck with the 2 reals that I have 10lb on instead of using the 12lb stuff. I did try to stay off the bank as much as I could. I think (I know) the water probably had me shook up more than the fish. This water is usually a nice stained color with about 2-3 feet vis at most. No rain has really got is clear. I probably should have thrown something like a shad rap too, instead of the spinner bait.

Thanks guys for your advice. It's been helpful


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[SUPERCHUGBUG]

keep in mind, different things will work on different bodies of water, so stick to basic concepts. i think everyone will agree on long casts, but baits may differ. don't be afraid of those bright colored baits either. i was very reluctant to try flourescent yellow, and flourescent green baits for the longest time, but finally gave them a shot. so far i have had one of my best yrs ever in terms of numbers of fish using the brightest colored worms i can find! someone brought up dropshotting, not a bad choice eitther. we used to drop shot exclusively in so. cal reservoirs 20 yrs ago. i was never a big fan of it, but it does produce. and spitshotting a 4 inch finesse worm can be good in clear water too. keep us posted on how it works out for you.

[mkgarrison5]

keep your line light and your baits natural. presentation i think is what the key factor is here. sometimes on plastics ill even put on a smaller hook to keep the profile down. its tricky but those 3 things i think will help you out alot.