Fish location after a big flood

[moguy1973]

I was thinking about that big smallmouth I caught last year and got me to wondering where fish like that might end up with a flood the size of the one we had.  Does something like that affect the fish population much or are they smart enough to make it back into the main river channel before the water recedes enough to trap them in the middle of a field?  When I was down by the river yesterday I didn't see much evidence of dead fish. Everything smelled bad, but not like rotting fish, more like stagnant water/sewage smell.  Woodland critters may have taken care of any dead fish though I guess, talk about a smorgasbord for coons and possums.

[mjk86]

I think during a major flood like that most the fish stay pretty tight to the channel to avoid being trapped.  Especially as the water begins to drop.  Other than that idk....but a huge flood Def changes the river.  I noticed that just below the rr bridge at 141 there is a new gravel bar.  Crazy how dynamic rivers are.  I'm interested to go walk the banks of the lower river....but looks like I'll need to wait.

I have a pile in the back yard on the wood line that's fish and animal guts and it only lasts 1 or 2 nights with fresh meat there.  It's like a buffet.  With all the corn,bird seed and the vegetable compost put out they get side dishes too lol.

[Al Agnew]

Those fish evolved with floods, so they have survival strategies to handle a big flood.  A wintertime flood like this one is a little different in that they are less able to handle the extremely heavy currents, but I and a lot of anglers who fish in the winter believe that one of the hallmarks of a good wintering pool is that there is a place along it where the fish can escape the heavy current in a flood.  It may be a part of a bluff that juts out and, in high water, forms a big, slack eddy on the downstream side, or a small creek or branch that enters the river there and backs up when the water is high--anything that can give them a good sized area to get out of the current without going too far away from the main channel.  Another characteristic of most wintering pools is that they are very permanent; they don't change much in big floods.  Most big bluff pools are like this.  So the fish aren't displaced by a pool that fills in or a channel section that moves during the flood.

They may move up into the flooded riverine timber, or perhaps even up into flooded fields at times, but they instinctively know when to get out of those places as the flood recedes.  You won't see many dead fish after a flood because they don't get stranded and die.  Exceptions to this that I've seen are some minnows and small fish, and hatchery trout.  I've found them in little pools up in the bottoms after a flood where it appeared they simply moved to the lowest point of the area they were in and it turned out to be an isolated pool after the river went back down into its banks.  But that doesn't seem to happen with the adult native fish.

[Hog Wally]

3 hours ago, Al Agnew said:

Those fish evolved with floods, so they have survival strategies to handle a big flood.  A wintertime flood like this one is a little different in that they are less able to handle the extremely heavy currents, but I and a lot of anglers who fish in the winter believe that one of the hallmarks of a good wintering pool is that there is a place along it where the fish can escape the heavy current in a flood.  It may be a part of a bluff that juts out and, in high water, forms a big, slack eddy on the downstream side, or a small creek or branch that enters the river there and backs up when the water is high--anything that can give them a good sized area to get out of the current without going too far away from the main channel.  Another characteristic of most wintering pools is that they are very permanent; they don't change much in big floods.  Most big bluff pools are like this.  So the fish aren't displaced by a pool that fills in or a channel section that moves during the flood.

They may move up into the flooded riverine timber, or perhaps even up into flooded fields at times, but they instinctively know when to get out of those places as the flood recedes.  You won't see many dead fish after a flood because they don't get stranded and die.  Exceptions to this that I've seen are some minnows and small fish, and hatchery trout.  I've found them in little pools up in the bottoms after a flood where it appeared they simply moved to the lowest point of the area they were in and it turned out to be an isolated pool after the river went back down into its banks.  But that doesn't seem to happen with the adult native fish.

I agree. This past Decembers flood was very high cold water. I've had to abandon some usual spots for holes with current breaks  that would stay slack up to the high water.  I find myself looking high on the banks for where I'd imagine fish being able to sit still effortlessly