No Luck At Occoquan Regional Park for Past Two Weekends 3/17- 3/23

[Financeguru]

Sorry for the late report, I've been having internet issues at home so just reporting in from work today....

I went out with a few friends on both kayak and bass boat the last two weekends and we were all skunked. We went out in the mornings and the water was stained muddy brown. We took a right from the launch and went up to the dam and fished it down till the first marina came up. We were targetting anything but catfish/carp and threw everything we had, plastics, spinners, crankbait, buzz bait, etc. We didnt put out any nightcrawlers or cut bait to avoid hooking up cats/carps. My friend's fishfinder constantly marked fish but no bite. There were more people fishing from shore than on boats/kayaks and everyone I spoke to had similar experiences.

I ask as a novice angler, is it a safe assumption that stained muddy brown water equates to unfavorable fishing?

[Moschedmi]

Thanks for the report on Occoquan conditions. The stained water and add on top of that the cold temps catching is going to be tricky. Larger darker colored lures will stand out more in stained water. That being said I have had pretty good success crappie fishing using a red and white crappie tube and a white teaser and of course smelly jelly. I typically start of with to set ups one with light color jigs describe above the other green pumpkin and chartreuse teaser this is vertical jig fishing. Once I start getting strikes I stick with the one I am having the most success with.

[ictalurus]

Thanks for the report, and sorry to hear about the double skunk.

I generally prefer to fish in clearer water, but there are times where stained or slightly muddy (i.e., not chocolate milk) water can make for good fishing. If you're in a reservoir or river in the winter, and you find a creek that comes in and brings muddy water, the area around the interface and into the muddy water can be good for bass fishing because the the muddy water is slightly warmer or heats up faster. The other time when stained water/muddy water can be good is during the shad run. In my experience, hickories and Americans don't bite as readily in clear water under sunny conditions. The action usually picks up in the evening or early morning. However, if the water is stained/muddy, the action can be good even in the middle of the day. Those are the only two examples I can think of where muddy water can be a benefit. If the water is super muddy with lots of floating debris, it often pays to head downstream to see if there is clearer water.

[Turtle135]

Cold muddy water is generally considered to be the toughest conditions for targeting bass.

The cold water slows down their metabolism so they are not actively hunting something to eat. Their vision in off color water is better than ours but it still has limits. It can lead to some tough fishing.

I was out on Mattawoman on Saturday. The water temperatures and water color were probably similiar to the conditions you had on the Occoquan. I could not get any bass to hit moving horizontal presentations either (crankbaits, spinnerbaits or jerkbaits). What I did have some success with was dragging a football jig on the bottom trying to bump into rocks or wood as much as possible. I was not moving the jig fast, just trying to stir up the bottom as much as I could with a 1/4 ounce jig with a paca craw trailer. I was also looking for spots where laydowns or bends created a current break. The bass are trying to conserve their energy and not swim against the tidal currents.

Keep after them, you will get them!

[M_Duong60]

Going to head out Wednesday or Thursday with a friend of mine. I think the water might be a little to cloudy, but am going to try to get some minnows to sweeten the deal.

[Financeguru]

Minh: Will look forward to your report on how you did and the water conditions.

Thanks.