fishing dark/ black, tanic stained water

[Bass 24 7]

Fished a lake today that I will have a tourney on next saturday.Water is very dark,tanic stained,about 1' visibility with anything bright.Caught one keeper(15"er) on a spinnerbait,3/8oz chart head and chart/white skirt,single gold willow.And 3 more fish that were between 15"-16" on shallow square billed cranks.Found some fish on brush piles in 14-18' of water but they would not touch a jig or plastics.I found an area where the creek channel comes real close to shore,on the inside of a point,with a steep bank,flooded grass,and lots of wood.That is where I caught the good fish on square bills. I may throw some topwater,like Pop R's the morning of the tourney.
    I don't have much experience with this dark of water,how would you guys fish this water?

[tmiller2]

looks like you did a pretty good job to me....id def throw spinnerbaits with gold blades and maybe put a rattle on them and i would go with the same type cranks....when i fish dark ponds i try to throw stuff that will give a lot of vibration

hope this helps

[bassindago]

we have a couple of rivers around here that are real dark. i have most luck using purple colored baits.

[gatrboy52]

being from fla. im talking out of turn,but i would think in ne. the fish your seein on brushpiles wouldnt be bass,probably crappies.in fla. most of our lakes ,because of cyprus trees are dark tannic stained water.for me the darker the water the darker the plastic.black,or junebug.jigs, black and black and blue.cranks,firetiger.spinner baits,gold colorado blades w/firetiger skirts.
bass dont have a problem locating baits in dark water and usually dont spook as easy.
i would think in your area that the bass have started to move to points close to or in coves and creek mouths.

[paxpress]

I usually go with darker colored baits in this water color (junebug being my personal favorite).  I also tend to catch the majority of the bass close to some type of structure (in grass/wood or edges of contour changes in open water). 

[stumpy]

i agree here with most people saying darker bait colors for soft plastics. june bug my goto color. or bama bug, okachobee craw colors. and i try to baits that give off vibration and move water like paca craws, paddle tails etc....

[fishin_fool]

Dark plastics with rattles, big ole 10"-12" worms and heavy vibrating spinners slow rolled...

[Bass Mafia]

Favorite presentation around grass in stained water is to swim any dark colored Zoom Lizard through, 3/8oz weight with a glass rattle stuck in by the  of the Lizard, by the tail. When it busts through the grass, the heavier weight causes a commotion and glass rattle drives them crazy and they grab it. Bite's usually a good one, so set the hook hard!

[bass_101]

Keep in mind fish become more active when the water is dirty, sometimes.  It sounds like they are, in your case, simply because you were catching them on reaction baits.  You should kill them on a 3/8oz double willow, one silver, one gold, BIG blade spinnerbait in white/green, white/blue, or white.  If you do throw topwater, try something that is noisy, buzzbaits ect.  If that doesn't work, try something more subtle, horny toads, spooks ect. ect.  If you find a stretch to flip/pitch, scoot in a little tighter to cover and make a more subtle presentation with a blk/blue jig with a black trailor.  Vibra-shock type baits, square billed crankbaits banging off wood or rocks, and follow up with a jig should get the job done.  Good luck.

[Bass 24 7]

Well,it rained all nite friday into early saturday a.m.And it was a very dark,overcast morning,as was most of the day,with little or no wind.I headed into the bay I wanted to fish,and proceded to slide a dark BOO jig and super chunk into a few areas of wood next to the flooded grass, quietly.Directly across the bay from me was a angler(not in the ABA tourney) throwing a buzzbait on shoreline grass and wood,it looked good and fishy on his side too,so I kept an eye on his attempts.There was one place on his side I really liked.His side had a liitle offshoot cove,maybe 15yds wide and it ran back from the main cove about 30yd or better.The best part of that little cove was right at the beginning of it,where that big old log was laying perpindicular to the bank.He worked that buzzbait by the end of the log,but not down the sides of it,and I only saw(heard) one blowup on his buzzbait.I got 2 quick fish on my side on a PopR,a 15" and a 16",needed one more for a limit and then start trying for bigger fish.The angler across from me heads up the cove,going further to the back end,when he gets about 80yds from me,I mosey over to that big log area.I get the boat positioned so I can throw that Popr to the left side of the log,and be able to chug it along the log out to the end.I get lined up(the whole bay is flooded timber)I'm about 25yds out,I start my casting motion and let that baby fly,and a perfect landing at the edge of the grass,right next to the log.I am thinking to myself,that is as good as it gets,a couple inches either way and the lure is in the grass or in the wood,and a snag is a blown opportunity.I take up the slack line,and give the PopR a little tug,just enough to make a little gurgle,and two more of the same,let it set and then one more little gurgle,and then,there is a little sucking sound,and the PopR is gone.I set the hook,and hey I got my third fish,and it is starting to feel like a not so bad fish,then it comes out of the water,and I see it is a 5lb + and all that wood everywhere and,well I tried to stay cool but it felt like ten minutes before I got it to the net,and in the boat.From that point on I tried to upgrade to bigger fish for my two smaller ones.I threw everything,spinnrbaits,mixed blades,fast,slo,colors,crankbaits,jigs,and the only thing that worked all day,was the PopR,next to flooded grass and wood.I was able to upgrade my two smaller fish,and total weight for 3 fish(a limit) about 11 pounds and also got big fish that went 5.68 so a good tourney win for me.And last week while pre fishing, I was thinking of throwing topwater,but waited to do it tourney day,sometimes you listen to that little voice,and it pays off,infact it usually pays off, I just don't hear so good sometimes,,,,,,,,

[Bass Mafia]

Good read and very good results!   

[BassHunter69]

looks like you did a pretty good job to me....id def throw spinnerbaits with gold blades and maybe put a rattle on them and i would go with the same type cranks....when i fish dark ponds i try to throw stuff that will give a lot of vibration

hope this helps

tmiller has made a good point also use bigger lures and darker colors so its a lil easier for the fish to see so with the rattles and,viberation and dark colors you'll definately have a winner