Favorite Lure For Muddy Water

[OzarkFishman]

I thought it would be fun to start a new topic every so often talking about different water conditions ...

What is your favorite lure for muddy water?

Tightlines,

OzarkFishman

(If this topic takes off, then I will start new topics for different water conditions later)

[eric1978]

If the water is chocalate milk, I'm probably packing up and going home. But if it looks fishable, I'll throw big, black spinnerbaits with big colorado blades, a big, dark, wide-wobbling crankbait with noise in it, or a big, dark jig and pig with a rattle. If I don't hook up on any of those, I really don't know what else to do.

I like your idea of discussing tactics for conditions. I started a thread yesterday called "Fishing High Water" under the forum category "Other Ozark Streams." I'd love everyone's input on that as well!

[Al Agnew]

Really muddy water, visibility less than a foot, is always tough. I agree with eric on what I'd try, but I wouldn't have a lot of confidence in it or anything else. Problem with muddy water is that it gives the fish almost unlimited possibilities on where they can be lying, yet you have to put the lure very close to them to get them to hit. So I always think I'm spending a lot of time fishing places where the fish aren't.

Oddly, the biggest river smallmouth I ever caught in really high, muddy water was an 18 incher that I caught on a nightcrawler while fishing for catfish at the mouth of a feeder stream. The stream was backed up from a six foot rise on the river, and I was fishing the worms atop a gravel bar that was normally a foot out of the water in the slack water backed up into the feeder stream. I ended up catching several nice smallies that day, and no catfish!

[smallmouthjoe]

I agree with Eric and Al 100%. In streams when the water is muddy and high it's always tough. Most of the time when there's been heavy rain I go to the lakes. High water brings the fish up shallow and their usually aggressive.

[Guest]

Some lakes and rivers are muddy year-round.

These fish can be caught on:

black/blue rattling jigs, black tube w/rattle, black grape/firetail jellyworms

rattle traps(chrome/black), large square billed cranks (firetiger), chatterbaits, single colorado blade spinnerbaits,

Anything that rattles, thumbs, or displaces lots of water.

[Wayne SW/MO]

The few times I've been forced to fish muddy water, a spinnerbait did fair. The old Okiebug with an orange blade and a brown and orange skirt always produced. Most of the fish wouldn't weigh though.

[dereck_evans]

I thought it would be fun to start a new topic every so often talking about different water conditions ...

What is your favorite lure for muddy water?

Tightlines,

OzarkFishman

(If this topic takes off, then I will start new topics for different water conditions later)

Flooded dirty water is my favorite to fish on current river, and there is only 3 baits I throw. 300 series orange craw bandit, dark spinnerbait with gold willow blades, or a dark choclate red flake tube. I never knew there were so many 3-4 pound smallmouth in current river untill I fished it flooded, especially on the crankbait. I wish for rain every time I go fishing cause the river is best when its about 3 feet high and dirty.