My area has received 5-6 inches of rain the past 2 days. Going to fish Friday and Saturday, im afraid the waters gonna be a kinda like choclate. My ? being, what color and type of lures should I chunk at'em? Water temp. before rain ranged from 60-75 on this 1700 acre cooling lake. Havent been out on the second lake that we will be on, think it is in the 800-900 acre range. Not sure on temp. gonna guess mid 40s-50s. Any suggestions besides depth charges would be appreciated!! Tia.Tim

Big bulky baits in dark colors for pitching/flip. Throw right into the stuff. Colorado blade spinnerbaits or wide action cranks. Lipless cranks work if fished slow enough for them to key in on it. In muddy water you gotta hit them in the head with it or drive them nuts with vibrations and noise.

High water tends to scatter bass & move them shallow while off colored water will widen the bass's strike zone. Noisy baits, chartreuse colors, or florescent colors

Water temps were 65-70 and now you think they will be mid 40-50?

Is it a power plant lake?

I don't think it will drop that much with a cold front and rain.

I would bet if u live in ILL that the water temp would be in the low 40s unless it is a power plant lake. I live in MO and the Lake of the Ozarks is around 40 right now.

Didnt say that I thought the water temp dropped that much. I will be on TWO different lakes. Power plant lake would not have dropped much, I fished it last weekend and know what the temp was on it. As far as the other lake it was just a guess, a hopefull guess. The low 40s might be more like it. Will know for sure at 7 am tomorrow.

CJ he said that the second lake he is going to be fishing will be 40...the other is a cooling lake. but anyway i say flip and pitch shallow brush rock and docks for the one with 60degree water. 40degree go with jerkbaits,jigs,or senko.

Big loud baits, bright colors, cover water.  Don't neglect newly flooded brush, etc

I'd run a crank a jig and a spinnerbait (alongside the few prime plastics that never come off the boat)

Lean towards the hard baits in the colder water(cranks,S/B's,traps,jigs) , and the softer baits in the warmer water (plastics, jigs).

(Yes, I have jigs in both categories,....one reason they are so special and should be deployed often. )

Don't discount the original bankline, especially in the lake with the lower water temp.  Often in spring when the water comes up and its cold, they will not move to far.  They tend to hang around the old bankline instead of hitting the banks like they would if the water was 50+ degrees.

Big loud baits, bright colors, cover water. Don't neglect newly flooded brush, etc

I'd run a crank a jig and a spinnerbait (alongside the few prime plastics that never come off the boat)

Lean towards the hard baits in the colder water(cranks,S/B's,traps,jigs) , and the softer baits in the warmer water (plastics, jigs).

(Yes, I have jigs in both categories,....one reason they are so special and should be deployed often. )

There's more there than meets the eye, and I totally agree.

There are two opposing theories why this is so:

1) The additional action of soft-plastic is intimidating to bass with a coldwater metabolism.

2) Soft plastics become a little stiffer in coldwater and lose most of their action.

Russ, I'd be interested in hearing your take on this.

Roger