Bass fishing after the rain comes through can be tough so knowing a few helpful tips to will go a long way. A heavy dose of rain rejuvenates everything on land and water. Whether it’s the tomatoes withering in your backyard garden or bass languishing in stagnant backwaters, a downpour of H2O provides relief and sustenance for every living organism.
Rain falling directly onto a lake adds much-needed oxygen to the water, but rainfall that hits land first actually improves fishing the most. Rainwater that washes over the ground contains plenty of elements for setting off a chain reaction when it runs off into a lake.
Bass Fishing After A Rain Storm: Patterning Fish
Any time you have fresh water coming in bass are going to migrate up into the fresh water because it has more oxygen and food coming into it. Baitfish are drawn to the runoff area where they start feeding on an influx of microorganisms, grubs and worms and then bass move in next.
Bass Fishing After The Rain: Water Levels
The amount of rainfall determines how much runoff a body of water receives and how long it lasts. There has to be quite a bit of rain to saturate the ground before a lake starts getting any runoff. Once the ground gets saturated than that water will start running off and it will keep running off as long as it keeps raining. Runoff can last for a couple of days after some torrential downpours.
Runoff also creates current where it dumps into a cove or backwater area. Look for an area with the heaviest runoff because it will also have the strongest current. The more turbulence, the more oxygen increases and it increases the fish’s metabolism so a spot with a lot of runoff will have the most active bass.
Bass Fishing After The Rain: Water Clarity
A change in water clarity is another byproduct of runoff. In many instances, mud lines form where the runoff mixes with the main body of water. That can be an awesome situation because when you see that discolored water it means that it is taking water that was on the land and dumping it into the lake. So there are grubs and worms that are creating a feeding frenzy for the baitfish and that is going to bring bass in.
Despite all of its benefits to a fishery, runoff can be detrimental at times. Runoff from melting snow or cold rain is bad because a bass’ metabolism is dictated by the water temperature. In this instance, bass leaves the runoff area to seek warmer water closer to the main lake.
