 “HOW
TO FISH WHEN THE WATER IS UP WITH CLIFF CRAFT”
Spinner Baiting High Water
EDITOR'S NOTE: This week we’ll look at fishing
high water with all the floods in the Gulf Coast area
due to Hurricane Katrina and the rain dumped along the
Eastern Seaboard by Hurricane Ophelia. Cliff Craft of
Sugar Hill, Georgia, has been one of the country's leading
anglers for a number of years. A professional fishing
guide on Georgia's Lake Lanier as well as a tackle  representative,
Craft travels the country teaching fishing seminars
and competing in bass fishing tournaments, and enjoys
fishing high water.
When the water is coming up, bass are easy to find.
The bass will rapidly move from the creek channels,
ditches and structure to the shallow water to feed when
the water begins to rise. I believe the fish are following
the bait into these newly-inundated areas. I have found
that as the bass move up they tend to be extremely aggressive
and are much easier to catch. Because the bass are shallow
and aggressive, we can take them in many ways. My favorite
bait when the water  comes
up is the spinner bait. The bass will look for cover
that holds bait as the water comes up. This cover may
be bushes, vegetation, logs or treetops. But the fish
most often will be caught next to the structure, and
one of the best baits to work through cover is the spinner
bait. This lure can be retrieved over weeds, through
brush, down logs or off trash. There are very few places
you cannot work a spinner bait.
I like a 1/4-ounce spinner bait with a single blade
for fishing rising water. This lure can come over a
stump or a patch of weeds or be dropped and helicoptered
down beside the cover. That falling action really seems
to cause bass to strike. I don't really think the color
is important as long as the bait is either  white
or yellow. I have caught very few bass on any other
colors. I don't use a stinger hook or a trailer hook
when fishing rising water. There usually is so much
trash in the water that the trailer hook stays fouled
more often than not. I like to retrieve the bait so
I can just see the blades under the water. However,
if I come by a likely target (an area where I feel a
bass may be) I like to kill the bait and let it free-fall
to the bottom to trigger the strike. Most of the time
the bass will hit on the fall. But sometimes if the
fish are extremely aggressive, they will leave the cover
to come after the bait. The best regions to find spinner
bait fish seem to be brushy points and the backs of
coves.
TOMORROW: WORMING THE TIMBER
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