People who know me well know I love a challenge.
That is probably why I enjoy fishing clear waters. They're the toughest waters of all to fish successfully and many anglers avoid them like the plague. Fish in drinking-water-clear lakes will tend to be deeper, hang tighter to cover, be more spooky and line shy, feed for shorter periods during the day, and in general prove tougher to catch.
But before you get discouraged, let's examine some of the plusses. Clearer waters with a little size and depth generally contain some big fish no matter how much pressure they receive. The clarity of the water coupled with deeper fish activity and the fact game fish often feed at night on these waters are all factors that tend to keep the supply of lunkers intact. But if you use the right tackle and learn how to read and fish deep water, you can experience a whole new frontier of angling.
Some of these classic, clear-water lakes are also water "playgrounds" during the day, creating enough disturbance to severely restrict fishing success. But in early spring, at night, or after Labor Day, it's a totally different story. I actually enjoy seeing an increase in boating activity on certain lakes because I know fewer fish will be caught, leaving more for those who fish the lake at peak periods.
Tackle Selection
As a general rule, lighter tackle and smaller lures will catch more fish on clear-water lakes. I don't think I have ever caught more than three or four big walleyes in clear water on lines over eight-pound test, and those fish were accidents while fishing for something else.
For smallmouth, I use four- to six-pound test 75 percent of the time. Largemouth bass generally require lines in the 6-12 pound range, unless they are those extra-big southern bass or are tucked in heavy cover.
I also recommend lighter than normal lines even for muskie and pike. For pike, 10- to 14-pound mono is usually enough; 14- to 17-pound line is about as heavy as needed for muskies, although 27-pound test black braided Dacron is preferred for jerkbait fishing and a few other occasions.
A chop on the water, current, or cloud cover will allow you to use slightly heavier lines.
Lighter lines reduce line visibility--certainly a factor in clear water, especially when using live bait or slow-moving lures. But thinner lines are preferred for other reasons, too. Lighter lines enable you to cast smaller lures and to make longer casts, factors that can spell the difference between success and failure. The most important reasons light lines work best, however, is because they give you increased feel and better depth control.
Lighter line can give you the extra feel to interpret key fish-holding breaks in deep water, and can give you the extra depth needed for trolling.
Even when casting, light lines help get a lure deep. When using smaller-sized crankbaits and making long casts with six-pound-test line, I can put my lure down in the 8-10 foot zone. This allows me to work over deep rock or sandgrass flats; along deep edges of walls, abutments, or piers; and other places where most anglers don't put a small, fast-moving lure.
Even when musky fishing on clear lakes, lighter lines have their advantages. Using a 14-pound monofilament for minimum water resistance and a deep-diving lure such as a Magnum Hellbender, I can cover the base of a dead weedline in the 12- to 15-foot range and can bump bottom just outside a weedline in the 10- to 12-foot range. This tactic has often produced muskies for me while boat partners reluctant to change tactics drew blanks. It's a good technique to remember when the fish are deep, especially when trolling is not allowed.
Even when spoon plugging or "speed-trolling" I still favor lighter lines to get the maximum running depth out of smaller lures. For most clear-water trolling, 12-pound-test is about all I'll use. For muskies or extra-large pike, I prefer 17-pound.
A few more line tips are: keep your reel spool full of quality line and retie often, especially if you're bumping over bottom cover. For live-bait fishing on clear lakes I also like clear or brown lines rather than the "easy-to--see" ones.
Best Places to Find Fish
A way to dramatically improve your chances of catching fish in clear water is to find areas that have relatively less visibility. This tactic will work anywhere from a small pond or quarry to giant reservoir.
In reservoirs, the upper, flatter sections (farthest from the dam) will generally have the most off-colored water. In larger lakes, the bays or sections of a lake with less overall depth tend to be a little darker. If one section of a large lake has 80-foot depths and another has 40-50 feet of water, I'd tend to fish the shallower area.
In most waters, changes in water color will occur frequently. A rain will often color certain portions of a lake, pond, reservoir, or river. After a good downpour I often seek out these stained areas. Game fish often move into these off-colored sections and become quite active.
Even on larger lakes, small incoming tributaries can stain sections of water at the immediate mouths of these streams. I've fished clear lakes that have had many small streams coming into them and caught fish at nearly every creek mouth after a rain.
Stained water may also be caused by strong winds. If a section of shoreline is pounded for a few hours by heavy wave action, the water will become roiled, especially on lakes that have fluctuating water levels or expanses of mud or clay banks. Heavy boating traffic may cause the same effect.
I believe a slight difference in water color can make a big difference in ease of catching fish. If I'm fishing bass in waters of 15 feet or less, I'll almost never fish the calmer, clearer portions of a clear lake. Instead I pick the shore opposite the clearest area, even if there is only a small ripple on the water or slightly less visibility. It's all a matter of percentages.
During mid to late summer many clear water lakes "bloom" due to over-fertilization of the water. The millions of particles of suspended algae give the water a greenish cast, often making it look like pea soup. Most anglers avoid this situation, but it actually helps fishing by cutting down light penetration and encouraging fish to move in shallower.
In early fall, some of this algae often remains in a lake--perhaps 10-20 percent of the original amount. A day of wind will stack it against a shoreline. I watch for this and spend extra time on that shoreline.
Tomorrow we'll look in more detail at seasonal variations in fishing clear lakes.
Copyright (c) 1996 Spence Petros. All rights reserved.
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