How to Fish Flood Waters

Some people see swollen bodies of water and think that the fishing's shot.  Not me.  I look at a playa lake that's overflowing its banks, and I see one thing.  Opportunity.

Flood waters can be a cornucopia.  The reason is simple.  Fish can only go where the water is.  When that playa overflows its banks, the fish's playground gets a lot bigger.  Suddenly the fish has a whole new feeding area.  It's a shallow, grassy area full of food.

Take a look at this flooding from the rains a couple days ago.

See the sign way out in the middle left?  That's normally where the shoreline is.  So all of that space between the sign and the water's edge is a new playground and a new feeding ground for the fish.

Take a look at the submerged grass.

That submerged grass screams, "Fish!"  Maybe not right at the water's edge, but just a couple feet from it.  I actually saw some smaller fish swimming in this area.

Granted, I gave them some help.  My bait was whole kernel sweet corn.  I cracked the can and poured the juice into the water.  Then I threw some corn in.

I put some of that same corn directly on a carp hook and also on a hair rig.  Either way, the fun times rolled!

At one point, I had a fish on each line at the same time!

I strongly recommend using carp hooks because they're light weight and easier for the carp to suck in.  If you don't have carp hooks, a size 6 works well.  You need only one split shot weight.  Keep things light.

All fish were released unharmed.  Tight lines!

Fishing the West Texas Flood

Here in West Texas, we've had a LOT of rain.  There has been street flooding and some house flooding.  All of our playa lakes have overflowed their banks.  Just look below.

We could have fished from the sidewalk.  Here's another view.

That sign in the distance is the "No Swimming" sign that would normally be at the bank's edge.

Here are some flood photos from another playa lake in town.

So now that the water has mostly receded from the streets, there was only one logical thing to do.  We decided to fish those swollen ponds.  Think about it.  Rainwater re-oxygenates stagnate bodies of water like playas.  It stands to reason that this would elevate fish activity, including feeding.  We were right in a BIG way.

All three pictures are the same carp.  My son reeled it in, and my daughter landed it with the net.  The bait was whole kernel sweet corn out of the can.  I put it on the ever-faithful hair rig.

Tight lines!!