Within minutes of launching my boat on a favorite clear lake, I peered down into the water and easily saw bottom at 9-10 feet... So much for plan A, I thought.

The lake had cleared quickly from the rain and high winds earlier in the week. I wasn't going to have the luxury of finding much stained water, which generally means bigger than average fish in shallower than normal depths.

I'd have to look for isolated areas of dingier water. The bays, with their safer bottom, had a little better water color, as did the shoreline that had moderate waves slapping into it. One high softer bank had a band of stained water coming out about 10 feet, and at the mouths of two creeks there was more stained water.

Making a run through the best of these slightly stained water areas, my partner and I were able to put nine bass into the boats. A mixture of largemouth and smallmouth bass to 3-1/2 pounds. All were taken in the seven- to 12-foot depth range on deep-diving crankbaits fished with light line. Water temperature was 51 degrees.

Suddenly I had an idea. I thought of two small harbors honey-combed with piers and moored boats that were connected to the main lake via narrow necked-down channels.

We motored quickly to the first harbor and once inside noted some very positive factors--water temperature of 56 degrees and water churned by frequent boat traffic with a visibility of about three inches. A quick switch to heavier chartreuse spinnerbaits was in order.

We would now make casts as tight to the shore and as close to any objects as possible. Bang--a three-pound bass quickly came off a 10-foot section of rocky bank; then a 2-1/2 pounder hit under a dock; the pilings below a small bridge held another three-pound fish; another decent bass came from the metal retaining wall... and so it went.

I love to fish clear waters, but I am aware of the fish-catching problems associated with them. One of the best ways to cope with clearer water is to be aware of conditions that can dirty up the water color.

If a high wind is pounding the east shorelines, then I'd look to the east shorelines for structure or cover. If the lake is calmer, perhaps the wind has stirred up an area the previous day.

Rains can be a great fish-catching advantage for the clearer waters found in lakes, farms ponds, quarries, streams, or rivers. Obviously, the mouths of rivers, feeder creeks, or ditches have potential. Also look where erosion cuts in, where culverts connect two areas of water , or where a softer bank may wash in and stain the water after a rain or high winds.

A light rain may be what's needed to turn on a smaller lake or stream, while a frog-strangling downpour in a deep, clear lake or reservoir may pull the bass out of deep water into water measured in inches.

A prime example of this move into the shallows occurred while I was fishing in Lake Ouachita in Arkansas. An earlier serious downpour stained the back end of feeder creeks a light chocolate color. We found plenty of bass in a foot or two of water and hot orange lures were the ticket.

A friend who lives on a shallower northern Illinois lake loves strong summer or fall rains. When water pours down a big ravine into a shallow bay, badly discoloring the water, the biggest pike in the lake move into water just a foot or two deep.

I don't know why stained water makes fishing easier. A fish has less time to see the lure or bait and must react quicker? The water is warmer and the fish more active? More forage fish are available? It covers up anglers' mistakes? Fish come shallower and become more aggressive? Who knows? Just remember: stained waters make fish easier to catch.