I have a 2 part question. We've had historic flooding for the last 4-5 days.

 

First question.

I have always heard that bass, or fish in general, will follow the water up. So lets say the water rises 2 feet, the bass leaves his preferred underwater stump and comes up to eat bugs, crawdads, whatever, that is newly under water correct? And this means really, that newly flooded areas would likely be a good spot to fish, correct? Is this always so?

 

Second question.

How does flooding affect river fish? There is a place I go, that the water has risen 20 feet above normal. I know that river fish do go up and down the river, depending on baitfish, water lever, temperature. The spot I fish is at a low head dam, and it always holds some fish year round. Do those resident fish just hold up next to the dam and stay put when it floods? I guess they would go to the shore to eat new forage like lake fish would though. I guess the main question is, will that spot continue to show similar results aftet water level goes back to normal, say in a month? Or can/does flooding cause signicant changes to where fish hold on a river with regards to dams/bends/eddies? 

1 minute ago, Bazoo said:

I have always heard that bass, or fish in general, will follow the water up.

 I too have heard this all the time and seems like it’s settled science in the bass world, but this runs extremely opposite of what I have experienced. High water is one of my toughest bites, along with muddy, and often those are related to each other. But conventional knowledge does usually say that newly flooded areas are hot fishing. 

On a river, when the water levels go up, so does the current. The bass will find slack water areas to escape that fast water. If the water is over the banks, they’ll go right up into the trees. Ive seen guys fish picnic tables and garbage cans in flooded parks. If the water is just high and fast, they’ll often hug the shoreline. It’s a good time to walk the banks with a small jig and dunk the bait right at your feet in little eddies. Stealthy approach is critical. Plodding around will alert those fish hugging the shoreline. If the water is normally clear, during high water it’s probably muddy. Fish that are used to sight feeding will often shut down until things clear up.  So many guys have trouble catching bass during high water on rivers. The good news is that they are in very predictable locations. If you can get to those slack water areas, from shore, you can get some bites.

One more thing. Low head dams are killing machines. Use EXTREME caution when fishing near them, especially during high water situations. 

2 hours ago, Bazoo said:

I have always heard that bass, or fish in general, will follow the water up.

Yes...but...there's always a but.  High water can be awesome because the fish will follow it up into the ultra shallow stuff that hasn't been submerged in years as that's where all the stuff to eat get's flooded into the water.  But...my experience with high flood conditions is that the water is either on the way up or on the way down and both are happening very quickly. 

 

When it's on it's way up it tends to be at it's muddiest.  In the case of the current flooding in my area the rain was cold, which can be a death knell to spring bass fishing, and it was sure as heck muddy and cold.  A double whammy. 

 

It's now receding...very quickly.  Bass won't hold shallow when they know the water is dropping fast.  So, the "bass follow the water up" thing is also a "bass get back to a safe depth when the water is falling" thing.  My experience with flooding hasn't been the lights out fishing that you sometimes hear about, but this is just my experience with it.  Perhaps I've just never hit it at the exact right time.  I have caught a few very nice bass in very shallow water during flood conditions so don't hesitate to try it.  

Thanks guys, good info.

Man I don't know, good thread

The lakes I fish fluctuate 30 feet or more every year.  When the rainy season comes, it only takes a coupe weeks for the lake to go from extremely low to full pool.  The bass definitely follow the rising water, and move very shallow tight to the banks.  This does not necessarily make for good fishing.  The bass are far more spread out during the high water season.  They may be on the bank, but the bank is huge.  I may find one nice bass, and wont find another one for hundreds or more yards down the bank.  They may also get tight to cover, which is everywhere.  It takes time to work each piece of cover, and because of the high water there is thousands of pieces of cover.  Some anglers like the high water because they are good at beating the banks.  I prefer the low water, the bass may be harder to find when it is low, but once I locate them, they are concentrated and many bass can be caught from the same location.  Either way love it or hate it, high water means chasing the bass into new flooded cover.  When the water starts to recede, many times the bass don't follow the water down as it recedes, like they do when it rises.  They will leave the shore and make long moves out to deep water instead of clinging to the changing shoreline.  When the water first starts to fall is when I struggle the most.

Thanks king fisher. I hadn't thought about summer/winter pool, rather just flooding. I suspected as much, what you describe about bass not following the water down.

Not sure about really high water. But I used to hate muddy water--now I love it. As long as it is not Cold Muddy Water. Bass will come up shallow and you can drop a stick bait a few feet off of the bank and catch them. Great for bank fishermen.

I enjoyed a high water situation in a weed-choked bog two years ago. The higher water completely covered Lily pads, so instead fishing between the pads and winching bass out of them, I fished over the pads and had enough water stop the pads to boat bass much more easily.

I retired in 2016 and started fishing 3 lakes in my area.  In 2019 I had amazing fishing on these lakes (lots of bass and 52 over 5# that year) Then the fishing went down to "normal".  Looking at Google Earth Pro and using the historical feature it showed that 2016 was a high water year on these lakes.  2024 was another high water year.  I think the high water produces excellent spawns so I'm excited for the future!

Thanks @Lottabass, that is encouraging! I had not thought about the time period following the flood, just the actual flood and immediately thereafter.

20 hours ago, Bazoo said:

Thanks @Lottabass, that is encouraging! I had not thought about the time period following the flood, just the actual flood and immediately thereafter.

As far as locating bass in high water I agree that can be challenging.  I don't think all the fish follow the water up.  The "normal" shoreline, which is now under water, can be productive.

When I read your post I thought of all the fresh nutrients available to the bass and also their forage which seems to supercharge a lake.  Making a conclusion from observation and experience only, I have no hard data.

Good Day and Happy Friday All,
Based on observations and experiences water level affects my angling adventures in several ways. Much like what @king fisher describes is similar to my situation here in Southern AZ, where the lake / pond levels change based on the surface runoff, inflows. I prefer to fish from my kayak but will shore fish when conditions are not safe to be on the water or I want to do more casting/catching rather than paddling.

I find it is all about finding the fish. Changes in water levels simply means I have more area to search. I'm rather basic in my approach so I simply target structure with accurate casts. During the higher water levels the flooded regions simply provide more opportunities for target areas to investigate. In these reservoirs the recently flooded features and vegetation have more holding areas to probe with the possibility to connect with fish.

 

During the lower water periods you have fewer plants to deal with, it is more the rocky features to concentrate on.

Fortunately, having lived in the area for so many years and developing a history of the features from the low water periods, there is an understanding of where key structures are.

As an example, we have a bit of a monsoon period during the summer months. When those early storms roll in it floods the new vegetation. It is possible to find fish in some of it pretty quick. Post monsoon season when the water slowly recedes, it is plausible to simply keep working the ever changing shoreline with some reasonable success. 

Based on my experiences, I'm not changing my approach, I'm still targeting structures in the water, 30 feet or shallower, that hold fish. The water level just constrains the area that I'm dealing with.

Just my $ 0.02 tossed in for consideration. I'm hoping you each are able to make the most of this spring time fun! Be well, Cheers!

We are at the bottom of mountains so historic flooding is a nightmare, we get 500 year floods about twice a year 😆 

 

the only prayer I have at getting a bite is fish a highland reservoir that stays mostly clear or go below a dam