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Posts: 91
| I have a question for you guys. One problem I constantly have is fishing in gin clear water. How do you approach these conditions? I have a local lake that has these conditions, looking at 4 - 6 ' visibility, very tough.
I've been told to use blacks and white lures, is this true? Help! Thanks! |
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Posts: 1316
Location: Lebanon,Mo | I consider gin clear at 10' or greater. But anyway,dont think color matters much,but fish it early/late,maybe night time. If the lake contains vegatation,fish in the thick of it. Cloudy overcast days will help you as well. If the water temp is warm,burn baits too.
And fish deeper...we never fish deep enough.
Edited by missourimuskyhunter 10/17/2013 5:07 PM
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Posts: 684
Location: Sycamore, IL | missourimuskyhunter - 10/17/2013 5:01 PM
And fish deeper...we never fish deep enough.
This is great advice...
I fish a couple of very clear lakes where you can see timber on the bottom in 15 ft and the majority of our fish come right at the point where visibility stops and the shadows begin. I think that the muskies use this to their advantage when hunting. Long casts and deep figure eights are a must as the fish can be a bit spooky. Windy days can be terrific as well as low light conditions...but I've gotten my biggest fish on bluebird days. White is a good choice but I've also had good luck on firetiger in this type of water. Good luck...I love clear water! |
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Posts: 12
Location: Georgian Bay | Get a copy of "Muskies on the shield " Dick will tell you how to fish clear water. A must read. |
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Posts: 1460
Location: Kronenwetter, WI | Drink some gin clear gin and say hell with it. |
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Posts: 295
| 6 feet where I come from is considered dirty water... It's not that bad really. Try fishing baits where you get bit out away from the boat... If you always see fish coming into the 8 on a certain bait... Don't fish it. Jerk baits and rubber with a good long pause are a good option... And you can't fish deep enough. When and if I can see the bottom in 30 fow that's how deep Im trying to fish. |
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Posts: 76
Location: MPLS Metro | Definitely with MD75 on this one. Don't shy away from bright/gaudy baits in clear water conditions. If you got super clear water and a bright day, a bright bait will have a great silhouette against the surface from underneath. I have also had alot of success throwing gaudy patterns on clear lakes and have come to realize that on real windy days clear lakes produce. |
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Posts: 1828
| Everything is so relative, isn't it? Of the ten-or-so musky lakes near me, only three have water clarity of less than 10 ft. Water with 4 - 6 ft clarity, I consider pretty turbid.
I'm not a good fisherman, so this isn't worth much. But when fishing water with 4 - 6 ft clarity, I don't think you need to change up your attack from whatever you're used to. Personally I don't even think about adjusting my approach to accommodate "clear" water until I'm somewhere that I can see bottom in 15 to 20 ft. |
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| Cowboyhannah - 10/17/2013 7:55 PM
Drink some gin clear gin and say hell with it.
You rock CH! |
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Posts: 8866
| Visibility on "my" lake is about 20 feet. About the only thing I can add to the discussion is to fish it on cloudy/dark days, very early in the morning, or anytime after the sun is close to the horizon. A little wind helps too. Fishing deep is a tactic that I've been assured by many is your ticket to stardom. But it's not something I've done a lot, nor am I particularly comfortable with it. Something I'd like to learn one day for sure. |
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Posts: 1405
Location: Detroit River | I've fished some flat calm days on LSC & could see bottom in 17 fow & caught musky on black & on white bucktails. I don't like fishing when there's no wind on LSC but my days are limited as to when I can fish so I just deal with it & downsize my baits. That's the one reason why I still keep the smaller deer hair bucktails in my box.
Edited by Zib 10/18/2013 7:45 PM
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Posts: 409
Location: Almond, WI | Glide baits, bulldawgs are usually good for water like that. And deep is not necessarily the way to go; I caught a 43" this spring in 5' of water on a very clear lake, and a 46" in 5' of water on an even more clear lake this fall. Think of your forage and available cover. If both are available shallow, there will be some fish there. |
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| i would not want to drink a gin that clear.seriously don't always think about ultra realistic pattern sometimes lure with orange belly is killer,good wind and clouds is your friend more than ever |
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Posts: 2754
Location: Mauston, Wisconsin | LOL- 4-6 ft is nothing. I wouldn't really change anything. Try a real Canadian shield trout water lake like Kagagi (Crow) sometime! Read Dick Pearson's book first. Maybe not, trout water is addictive. Seriously, the fish can see you more easily, but only as it gets closer to boatside, so don't make sudden movements, and as others have said; even a very light breeze is an advantage, and fish at night, or during periods of low light. If they really want the lure, nothing will stop them. I've had a fish come up from bottom like a rocket in 50 FOW and smash a twitched lure. I watched it for ~ last 20 FOW because it was dead flat calm! It was amazing, I've also seen them come out of the black abyss and attack a lure 15 feet down on the edge of a cabbage bed. In really clear water you get to see the fish's side of the battle much better. You definitely need to slow down your reflexes so you don't pull the lure away when they hit it...... that's the down side of seeing the strike!
Have fun!
Al |
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| Pymatuning Res.? It's all a matter of opinion. |
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Posts: 91
| Thanks guys for all your great advice. I have to laugh though, I "estimated" that depth, but you get the picture. This lake is tough, with very closed mouthed reports, if any, but have heard stories of some big girls lurking there. I'm determined to pull one out of here, and thanks to your advice, will only be a matter of time! Thanks again! |
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Posts: 611
| I have been told that clown is a good color for clear water. |
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Posts: 72
| Walk the dog top waters and SUCKERS are both great options too. White , black, silver, and some purple mixed in are my favorites with my dussas and pounders. But to many people fear the clear water. I absolutely love it and prefer it . Good figure 8s help out also. Just got a 50 1/2 yesterday on a gin clear lake on a sucker and lost another hog. ALWAYS have a sucker out !!!!! |
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Posts: 791
Location: WI | I'm with john. Natural medussas and big daddy's. Use your electronics and get baits moving erratically through suspended bait. And you can never go wrong with a sucker or two. Popped my biggest fish of the year yesterday on a sucker being dragged through suspend bait |
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| Read the book, but do so as if reading any other book. A ton of great information in there, but remember you still need to put in the time. Luckily, there is only so much you can do. Fish shallow, fish deep, fish light colors, fish light colors, fish high in the water column, fish low, fish cover, fish structure. You will figure it out, get dialed in, and start catching fish in no time. Good luck. |
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| fish dark colors***** |
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Posts: 149
| muddymusky - 10/21/2013 7:44 AM
I have been told that clown is a good color for clear water.
I have also been told (by Don Pursch) that red and yellow is a very good combo for clear water. |
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