ising water and flooded cover can be the boon or bane of fishing success.
On one hand, water coming up 2 to 4 inches a day on a reservoir in the spring-
time is rocket fuel for epic fishing conditions. To pitch up to the base of a bush and
get answered with a solid thump is the pinnacle of the bass fishing experience, which
explains why flooded cover is always so alluring. It’s the first thing on a lake that draws
a bass angler’s eye.
On the other hand, rising water can also leave you lost in a flooded forest when that
same flooded cover that looks so inviting leads you down a really long rabbit trail,
resulting in fruitless hours of casting and ultimate disbelief as to why all that great-look-
ing cover didn’t produce a bite.
“Flooded cover is a prime example of a condition where anglers want bass to be in
places where they want to catch them,” says 2007 Forrest Wood Cup winner Scott
Suggs. “Soon as anglers see flooded cover, they head straight for it.”
Suggs, however, knows better than to jump in headfirst. As a native of Arkansas, he
has seen his fair share of rising water and flooded cover in Ozark impoundments.
“Just because water is up in cover does not always mean the bass are up there, too,”
Suggs warns.
Jason Reyes of Huffman, Texas, understands exactly what Suggs is talking about. As
a Texan who has a penchant for flipping flooded cover, he, too, is familiar with the
temptation to jump longingly into it.
“Flooded cover looks so good it has a way of drawing you in without really consid-
ering the bigger picture,” Reyes says. “All it takes is a couple of bites to make you think
it’s a happening deal when really it’s not.”
So how can you tell the good flooded-cover conditions from the bad? When is it bet-
ter to ferret out a bite in flooded cover, and when is it better to back out and leave the
woods alone?
For some retrospect, we can turn to the 2017 FLW Tour events held at Lake Travis,
Lake Cumberland, Beaver Lake and the Mississippi River at La Crosse, where pros dealt
with the good, the bad and the ugly of rising water and flood conditions.
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