Featured Articles

Bass on the rise and fall

This spring’s wet weather has caused lake levels throughout the South and Midwest to rise quickly after torrential rains, and then drop suddenly as dam operators try to rid their reservoirs of the excessive water.

While fishing with Pickwick Lake guide Roger Stegall this spring, we talked about the water fluctuations he encounters on his home reservoir and the tactics he uses to find bass when the lake is rising and falling. The Mississippi angler has seen Pickwick’s lake level fluctuate as much as one to two feet in a day as Tennessee Valley Authority operators try to control the flow of the Tennessee River during wet weather. Stegall’s tricks for catching bass on the rise and fall can help you succeed the next time your favorite reservoir is in a state of fluctuation.

Rising to the occasion

The veteran guide believes bass are easier to catch when a lake is rising because the fish are feeding on terrestrials along the newly inundated shoreline.

“The fish are going to be scattered when the water is rising,” Stegall said. So he moves his boat into the shallows and throws a Diamond Shad lipless crankbait or a spinnerbait — fast-moving lures that allow him to cover a lot of water quickly.

However, heavy rains can create a double whammy of muddy and colder water created by the cold front that follows the rain. So when the cold front delivers bluebird skies and turns bass sluggish, Stegall slows down his presentation and flips plastic lizards and worms to shallow targets.

Following the fall

Finding bass becomes much more difficult when dam authorities start releasing water and lake levels fall quickly. The dropping water level creates a feast or famine situation as bass congregate on specific spots.

“It can be a good thing (since the fish are bunching up) but also when the fish are getting tighter they also get harder to find. Once you find them you can have a real good day but you might not find them. You might fish over them.”

Stegall knows bass move in falling conditions, but he doesn’t believe the fish venture very far.

“Most of the time fish won’t move over 50 to 75 yards in a day. Some people think a fish will move a mile, but they don’t move that far that quick. They could but I don’t think they do.”

On his home waters, Stegall has seen bass move three to four feet deeper throughout a day of falling lake levels. So when he has caught fish one to two feet deep in the morning, by the end of the day those fish had moved out to the five- to six-foot depth range.

As the water level drops, Stegall still fishes the shallows as long as bass are biting.

“Let the fish tell you. If they are there and you are catching them, but then you quit catching them, move out to the flat in front of that drop or to the next little drop.”

Stegall believes some anglers make a mistake by trying to over adjust to the falling water and move too far.

“Most of the time fishermen outsmart themselves,” he warns. “Move slowly. Don’t get in a big hurry.”

When shallow fish stop biting for Stegall, he moves the boat a short distance to relocate bass.

“Sometimes I will just move out on the flat in front of where the fish were. A lot of times I will be throwing where other guy’s boats are sitting. They will still be throwing towards the bank.”

If the flat fails to produce, Stegall heads to the nearest drop, which could be a break of only a foot or less along tapering banks.

“People think of a ledge as having a five- to 10- foot drop, but sometimes there will only be a one foot difference.”

A key to finding bass in falling water conditions is to watch for the forage movement. Stegall looks for baitfish activity on the surface or for shad balls on his depth finder to relocate transient bass.

After moving to a new spot, Stegall fan-casts and thoroughly works over the area by moving his boat back and forth at different angles.

“I have seen so many times when fishing a bottom bait at a certain angle that if you didn’t get on that angle you wouldn’t catch fish.”

If he caught bass on shallow-running lures the previous day, Stegall will start the next morning with the same lures even if the lake level has dropped. However he’ll change to a lure he can work deeper if his first choice fails. His next selection will be a slow-moving bottom-bouncer such as a Carolina rig or a shaky head worm.

”A lot of times when fish are moving out like that they get finicky and don’t want to bite because they are not in the surroundings they were in 24 hours ago.”

Targeting steeper banks is one way you can take a lot of the guesswork out of finding bass on the rise or fall. Bass move vertically along these banks during fluctuating conditions, which makes them easier to pinpoint than bass that spread out horizontally on tapering banks. Stegall likes to work these sheer shorelines with jigs, spinnerbaits or Series 3 and 5 crankbaits. One of his favorite targets along these spots are lay-down logs where he keys on the tree trunk close to the bank when the water is rising and focuses on the tree branches in deeper water when the lake level is dropping.

Whenever your favorite reservoir is fluctuating daily, trying Stegall’s tricks will likely help you catch bass on the rise and fall.