Fair-weather fishermen miss out on great opportunities to catch bass if they shy away from donning a rain suit and wetting a line on a rainy day.
Touring pro Casey Scanlon is unsure if the dropping barometric pressure or rain breaking up the water's surface causes the feeding spree, but he knows for sure that rain showers turn on bass. “The fish usually tend to be more active,” he says. “The only exception would be a really cold rain-- almost like a freezing rain-- when the water temperature is already cold. “
The Missouri guide guesses it is a combination of factors that cause bass to bite in the rain. “You have the low-light conditions all day, which makes the fish roam around feeding,” he says. “You have a front coming through, which changes the barometric pressure a little bit and breaks up the water's surface, so the fish don’t see the boat as well, and they can chase baits to the surface a little bit better.”
Rain runoff also activates bass, especially on highland reservoirs where rainwater runs hard down the hillsides. “If you get a substantial rain, those fish know what’s going on,” Scanlon says. “They are in a feeding mode, and they look towards that running water.”
Scanlon uses moving baits most of the time for fishing in the rain. “If the water is warm enough, I always try a topwater of some sort, whether it’s a walking bait, a buzzbait, or a Pop-R. I love a topwater and burning a Luck-E-Strike Rattler Rick Clunn square bill (crankbait) around shallow banks in the backs of pockets. A spinnerbait can work well, especially if you get some stain in the water. Then I will always have a (1/2-ounce Strike King Pro Model) jig on too.”
A topwater lure is still an option for Scanlon even when a downpour roils the water’s surface. “If you get a driving rain, sometimes stuff like a Zara Spook or some of those subtle baits don’t get the attention of the bass,” Scanlon says. “So in that instance, I will throw something like a Pop-R or a real noisy topwater like a big buzz bait that makes a little more disturbance. I will throw a topwater as long as possible until the fish tell me they don’t want to eat it because it is just fun to throw.”
Cold rains in the late fall and winter tend to drop water temperatures and turn off bass, but a warm rain in the early spring is the prime time for Scanlon to don a rain suit. “That is what you look for when you get a warm rain and a lot of it,” he says. “That is when you want to target those runoff areas in the backs of creeks and places where it might make a water color change. Another good part about rain is that it can sometimes create a mud line or a change in the water color that can also trigger the fish into eating.”
Cool summer rain is also a great time to throw topwater baits. Scanlon notes bass move off the bottom during summer rain and start chasing bait, so he likes to throw either a topwater lure or a deep-diving crankbait such as the Luck E Strike Freak to catch those roaming fish. If the rain produces lots of runoff, Scanlon also tempts shallow bass in the backs of creeks with topwater lures and square-bill crankbaits. His favorite areas to fish rain runoff are steeper banks in pockets and small flowing creeks. “I like a medium-size creek with some flow coming into it, but I don’t like the bigger creeks with lots of flow like a raging river,” he says.
Fishing in the rain produces lots of fish and quality bass for Scanlon. “Those big fish are just taking that opportunity to eat then,” he says. “I had had a couple of amazing days fishing a spinnerbait or big square bill crankbait on Table Rock Lake in the spring when the lake had a ton of water flowing into it. I have had some fantastic days on Norfork, Bull Shoals, and Table Rock, throwing up into the runoff in the backs of steeper pockets during the spring. I had had some fantastic topwater (with buzz baits and poppers) days in late spring and early summer during the post-spawn when we got a hard, steady rain all day long.”
The Bassmaster Open winner relies on Bass Pro Shops 100mph rain gear to keep him dry even in a downpour. He wears a waterproof pair of wading socks and Bass Pro Shops Redhead waterproof boots to keep his feet dry.
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