i went fishing yesterday at a reservoir that has a very leafy and soft bottom.  it has a fairly wide range of depths and a good mix of deep and shallow.  there is a ton of wood, and laydowns, alhthough hardly any rocks or rocky area.

the only thing i ever has success with in these situation is weightless soft plastics.  everything else seems to fail for me.  i tried a spinnerbait in the laydowns some yesterday with no luck but once the water warms a little more that may change.

how do you guys handle these sort of situations.  info on this time of year is appreciated but general info is great as well.

matt

The pond in my yard is nothing but leafy muck on the bottom, so much so that you wouldn't even think about wading in.  This time of year, I too like to use a worm, either a ringed worm or a tube, but I t-rig it with a 1/8 bullet.  This way, the tube looks more like a craw bouncing through the silt and seems to get the fish a little more active.  If that doesn't work, I'll try a Mepps inline spinner just above the bottom if I can, but this is hard to do.  I try not to let the spinner hit the bottom since the trebbles pick up a leaf or a pine needle almost as soon as it touches.  Its a balancing act to get the right retrieve speed so that the bait hangs low in the water, but still moves fast enough to make the blade spin (I'm still working on perfecting this technique...)

a carolina rig would work just to drag the bottom and have a flute or tube floating above it.

Had to deal with this problem myself. Try to fish a 1/8 or 1/16 oz. jig, with either a crawtube or 3x craw trailer to slow it down even more. Its very light and shouldnt sink in the bottom. This is what worked for me. Oh, also try jerkbaits like husky jerks, pointers, smithwicks, etc.

Hey I experience this too on my local lake. I fish pretty much nothing but weightless Senko's and the big bass only bite on those. Nothing else. The faster lures caught the smaller fish.

People have explained to me that in the Northwest bass are just a little spookier than down south. If you are fishing up north it probably is the same. Is it a clear water lake? Because a clear water lake will also spook the bass more and make only the most realistic lures the most effective.

I'd throw a spinnerbait in all that mess.

im in va so not up north but the water is very clear considering the bottom composition and also the rainfall we had.  it is a drinking water reservoir so i suppose that is why it is clear.  produces truly beautiful patterned fish with amazing color.  

im guessing as the spring moves on a little the spinnerbait is gonna be good here.

matt

im in va so not up north but the water is very clear considering the bottom composition and also the rainfall we had. it is a drinking water reservoir so i suppose that is why it is clear. produces truly beautiful patterned fish with amazing color.

im guessing as the spring moves on a little the spinnerbait is gonna be good here.

matt

Along with the spinnerbait, the crankbait, jerkbait or any fish imitation lures will be good. Plastics and soft lures will be keen. With leafy bottoms, I would try a jig, chatterbait, texas or wacky rigged worm, crankbait, or anything to hover over the bottom.

Post spawn is best (before spring) with spinnerbait. I feel that the summer will be excellent in that reservoir. The mud will warm up in the summer, therefore the bass will be all over the place!  

Good luck!  8-)

In clear water, a suspending jerkbait might just be the ticket.

yeah i thought suspending jerkbait too.  its a mile hike or so to get there (which is why i have high hopes as it lowers the pressure) so i only had a small amount of tackle with me.  i tied on the only jerkbait i brought, made one cast and it was running funny.  i went to tune the bill slightly and broke the bill off of the xrap (least it wasnt a pointer) so that was that for trying the jerkbait.

i saw a guy up there who caught 7-8 monster crappie in about an hour and i may take my 4 year old out after them tomorrow.  should give me a chance to try a jerkbait again.

matt

The lake here is a soupbowl, with very little depth variation. and a solid muck bottom.  At first glance that makes the water look really murky, but its actually quite clear.  A bit tanic acid stained, but just a slight tint.  The bottom is about as muck filled as you can get.  I try to match the bottom, using junebug, watermelon or just about anything else that isnt to loud.  

When T rigged, I have found that by using brass or tungsten weights the muck doesn't stick as bad as it does on lead.  I will also use some gel attractant and coat the sinker.  I read (not tried yet) that a drop shot presentation is effective in these conditions by keeping the bait above the mess.

   just some thoughts,   Fatz

If you want to catch bass....wacky rigged finesse worm worked slowly on the bottom and get ready to set the hook.

use a owner misq. hook 2/0 or oct. in 2/0

My canal has a mucky bottom also, the baits I normally have success with are t-rigged worms, senkos, jerkbaits, and spinnerbaits. This spring all my bass have come on Rattlin Raps, Husky Jerks, and Shallow Shad Raps.

The water was very clear until two days ago when we had four inches of rain. Now I'm trying to find something that works. We've also had a thirty degree drop in our temps.

Falcon

If you find something that works in a clear lake that has just muddied up and dropped 30 degrees, by all means let us know!