there's a lake where my dad used to take me fishing when i was younger. it had alot of big bass. but something happened to it and now it's really muddy. near zero visibility under the water. my dad won't fish it now. no one else does to my knowledge. would you guys bother with it? i went last year and caught a good size bluegill, i take that as a good sign. if it's not overstocked with bluegill, there's a good chance it has a healthy bass population.

there aren't any spots where it clears up in the least bit. i looked last year. i don't know what happened to it, but it's been this way for years now.

there is a small lake around here that i fish regularly when i get a chance. it's about 330 acres. they are currently dredging the lake so the visibility of the lake is about 2 inches. this used to be a very clear lake up until 2 years ago, just like you said, there is not one sq. foot of this lake that is clear anymore.

on another note, i still love to fish this lake. the only drawback is it leaves a mud ring on my boat. but the fishing has definetly changed since the dredging project began so i had to adapt my strategy. the lures that produce most for me in seriously muddy water has been: a black w/ red fleck ribbon tail worm t-rigged worked very slow, also a 3 1/2 inch yum crawdad in green/brown, and last but not least a yellow/black medium diving crankbait. i've also had a few hits on a watermelon senko wacky rigged but no big takers as of yet.

so in conclusion, for the muddy water. nothing seems to beat a darker color, with the exception of the yellow crankbait, i think that was just a fluke.  i hope this helps ya out a little and don't let the water clarity discourage you're fishing. just make adjustments until you find something that works.

I'd sure bother with it.  I've caught a bunch of fish out of muddy ponds.  Think vibration and sound.  My go-to muddy water baits are a spinnerbait with a big, single Colorado blade and a lipless crankbait like a Cordell Spot.

alot of times if its just a pond that noone fishes in or takes care of its usually a good sign that theres an abundance of catfish, because the catfish being bottom feeders for the most part stir up the clay/mud/gravel whatever bottomand that makes the water murky but thats just a possibility

I fish water like that 75% of the time. Usually I catch bigger fish out of muddy lakes. Sound is the key to catching fish under these conditions. Lures that make a steady noise like a buzzbait or spinnerbait chartreuse or black work great because the fish have to track the bait to eat it. Jigs that are black and chartreuse with a black and yellow pork work good(use a rattle), yellow crankbaits work good also(wide wobble). Just make sure you bump the cover as much as possible with your lures. Fish shallow don't worry about anything deep unless fish are busting shad. Also fish tight to cover.