Reading stained water, and what to throw in it

Runoff changes the rules. After heavy rain the water carries suspended sediment, visibility collapses, and the things that were working last week stop working. The adjustment is not subtle and it is not really about colour.

Judge the water first

Put something pale in the water and watch it go. If you lose sight of it inside a foot, you are in stained water and should fish accordingly. Two to three feet is workable. Under a foot is murky, and everything below applies twice over.

Profile beats colour

A fish that cannot see three feet is not choosing your bait on its shade. It is reacting to a silhouette against whatever light reaches it, and to the vibration reaching its lateral line. So go darker and denser, because a dark bait throws a harder outline than a bright one.

June Bug and Night Fury are the two we reach for. They read as solid shapes in dirty water where a translucent green disappears.

Slow down and stay put

Reduced visibility means a fish has to be closer to find your bait, which means you need to leave it in front of them for longer. Work water thoroughly rather than covering more of it. Shorten your casts, fish the same likely spot from three angles, and resist the urge to move on.

Fish the edges

Dirty water pushes fish tight to whatever structure they can find. After a rain, the first place worth checking is the seam where stained water meets cleaner water — the colour change itself is an edge, and edges hold fish.