Many anglers are intimidated by clear water. Bass can get a much better look at your lures, line, and even you, the fisherman. But don’t let this keep you from getting out on the water. No matter the circumstance or fishing conditions, with the right lures and techniques, you can always have tons of success and tons of fun. So let’s break down the exact lures and techniques that will give you clear water success.
How Much Visibility is “Clear Water”?
This will depend on who you ask. Some anglers, such as Mike Iconeli, say that water visibility above 3 feet is clear water. Others don’t consider water to be truly clear until you have 6-8 feet of visibility. As a general rule, if your pond or lake has 4-5 feet of visibility on a sunny day, it can be considered clear water. Low light situations like an overcast day, morning, or evening will lower visibility. So even if your lake is traditionally clear, make sure to quickly check how much visibility you have each time you get on the water.
Three Types of Clear Water Lures
There are three trains of thought when it comes to choosing a clear water lure. These are finesse, speed, and realism. Bass can get a really good look at your lures in these bodies of water. First, finesse lures are subtle, smaller, and tastier baits that entice bass in with the fluent and attractive soft plastic bodies. Next, really fast lures don’t give bass time to get a good look at the lure, and trigger reaction strikes. And last up, hyper realistic lures mimic the bass’s forage so well, that they will fool bass even in crystal clear water.
Clear Water Finesse Lures
1. Drop Shot
The drop shot is a very unique rig that allows you to suspend a soft plastic bait 12-18 inches off the bottom. The ability to fish a bait slowly and off of the bottom allows for bass to see it from far away and still have time to hunt it down. Even in very clear water, if your lure is being dragged or hopped all the way on the bottom, bass might not be able to see it from long distances. I am sure you have video clips of bass slurping in a drop shot bait. The mesmerizing action of a hovering soft plastic bait is hard for bass to resist from springtime all the way to the cold winter.
2. Paddle Tail Swimbait
Out of all the finesse baits, a paddle tail swimbait can cover the most water. If bass are spread out or suspended, it is hard to beat a finesse swimbait in clear water. These baits are the perfect finesse baitfish imitation, and with many different ways to rig them, they can be fished in open water or even heavy cover. Generally, finesse swimbaits will be a shad imitation, but with limitless color options and new baits like the Gilly, they are also great bluegill imitations for ponds or shallow water that don’t have shad.
3. Ned Rig
The ned rig seems almost too simple to work. But it certainly catches tons of bass. There are a wide variety of soft plastic options, but the ned rig seems to work the best with either a crawfish or a stick bait plastic. Everyone knows bass love crawfish, and giving a small, finesse craw presentation is much less intimidating than a big jig or Texas rig. The stick bait plastics don’t really mimic anything specific but resemble just about anything close enough to get bites. They could be a crawfish, bluegill, goby, worm, or just about anything else a bass might be looking for. Contrary to the drop shot, the ned rig is going to be fished directly on the bottom. So it is best to be fished in locations where you already know bass are holding. This way bass don’t have to find the ned bait.
Clear Water Fast Lures
1. Spinnerbait
The spinnerbait is not the most realistic presentation. A weird skirt, with a wire coming out the front, and some metal blades above it. Doesn’t exactly sound like anything bass are feeding on. So in clear water, you don’t want to let bass get a good look at the bait. Choose a double willow leaf spinnerbait. The willow leaf blades slice through the water much better, allowing the spinnerbait to be retrieved faster without turning over or rising to the surface. When fishing a spinnerbait quickly, you will not be able to fish it very deep. So it works best when bass are either shallow, or near the surface feeding on shad.
2. Crankbait (Lipless and Flat Sided)
The lipless and flat sided crankbaits are effective when fished fast in clear water. They sink quickly and have very little rise when being retrieved. This allows you to let the lure sink to
deep water bass, and keep it there even when burning it in. Flat sided crankbaits have much tighter wobbles than square bills or traditional deep divers like the DT series. This tight wobble is similar to the lipless crankbait and makes the lure better for fishing fast. Flat crankbaits work super well in clear water rocks. Quickly bouncing them off of deep-water rocks will get tons of reaction strikes.
Clear Water Realistic Lures
1. Swim Baits and Glide Baits
Now, these are technically two different lure categories, but for the sake of this article, they play the same role. Aside from live bait, it doesn’t get more realistic than a swim bait or glide bait. With their intricately designed bodies and paint jobs, these jointed lures perfectly mimic the shape, color, and swimming action of actual baitfish. It doesn’t matter how clear the water is and how good of a look the bass get at these lures. They truly look exactly like a real fish swimming helplessly through the water. These lures are a bit bigger and heavier so they will require some upsized rods and line. But with big lures comes big bites. Swimbaits and Glide baits can catch some massive bass in clear water.
2. Jerkbaits
Jerkbaits are built like long, slender crankbaits. However, they are always designed with more attention to detail. The texture and paint jobs of these lures are always very realistic because when it is suspended, bass can see it very clearly. And it is this suspending characteristic that makes jerkbaits super realistic. Contrary to crankbaits that either float or sink when paused, the jerkbait will pause and sit completely still in the water. This pause and still motion is much more realistic than most other hard baits. That paired with the extra detail of the lure, make jerkbaits a very realistic lure and a terrific clear water option.
Line for Clear Water Fishing
When bass can see very clearly, it is important to make your line as invisible as possible. There are two factors that go into this. The type of line and the pound test of the line. Fluorocarbon has the lowest visibility of the three-line types. It virtually disappears in the water. Also, the lighter the line the better. With finesse lures, 6-10 lb fluorocarbon is the perfect choice. When using faster or bigger lures, 12-17 lb will give you the extra strength you need without becoming too thick and visible.
Best Lure Colors for Clear Water
Natural colors and patterns are the name of the game. When bass can clearly see your bait, you want the color to be very natural. Using soft plastics colors like white, black, and green pumpkin will serve you well. When using hard baits that have much more intricate colors and patterns, you can get more detailed with it. Bluegill, baby bass, shad, crawfish, and other forage can be perfectly imitated with hard body paint jobs. Select your color based on the forage that bass are feeding on in your specific body of water. Once you know this, choose the soft plastic color or hard body pattern that closest resembles it.
Reeling this In
Now that you know what to use in those crystal-clear lakes, there is no reason to be intimidated. Clear water bass need to eat just the same as muddy or stained water bass. So as long as you can present them with an enticing, fast, or realistic lure, you will have plenty of success. Not only is clear water fishing very effective, but the beautiful picture it paints in front of you makes it all the more worthwhile. And you might even be able to see those bass swim up and eat your bait.
