Flood warning is one of the last things an angler wants to hear before a planned day on the water. Not getting to fish is worse than fishing all day and never catching anything. Any time this happens, I am convinced that missed opportunity would have been the day I caught a PB.

Never high water threatens your fishing. Don’t cancel, change tactics.

Before learning to fish in high water, let’s discuss what you do not want to do. Never risk taking a boat or yourself into flood waters. Navigating or wading flooded waterways is possible, but also very dangerous. The risk is not worth a few fish.

Do not worry. Limiting yourself to shore fishing will not increase your opportunities to catch fish. It may increase your hookups. But more about that in a minute.

Successfully fishing high water requires knowing how floods affect fish. First, the water temperature will usually drop, sometimes, as much as double-digit drops can occur due to rain and runoff. Second, turbulency and velocity will both increase rapidly.

Runoff, debris and sediment will come from every angle, turning an otherwise crystal-clear stream into a river of chocolate milk. Third, fish will be stressed, which will change patterns and behavior.

Now, let’s look at how to find and catch fish in high water.

Calm water is the first thing you want to identify. Although it is a myth that fish get washed downstream with high water, they leave their usual area. Fish only want to spend the energy necessary to ride out the storm.

This means they will often abandon areas of increasing current and take shelter in calmer areas, even if these are areas they do not usually inhabit.

Because of changing water conditions, these calmer areas could be flooded fields, parking lots and ramps, or timber that is normally adjacent to the water. Although this may seem strange to humans, fish do not know what these areas are normally used for. They just know that they are now calm and wet.

Once you have found the areas of calm, focus on structure, like what you would normally do. The difference is what may be structure. Obviously downed trees, patches of grass and other vegetation would be a prime point of focus.

But do not overlook newly formed drop-offs formed by ditches and submerged objects such as picnic tables and dumpsters. Again, fish do not know any better.

Now it comes to what to throw.

Because the water is likely muddy, you want baits and lures that fish can quickly locate. Leave your favorite pumpkin and watermelon plastics at home. Instead, tie on choices that are brightly colored for easier visibility. Increase the chance of your lure being located by including noise, movement, or both.

Large spinners, rattletraps, and poppers will increase your visibility.

No one ever wants to hear that flooding is imminent. But now, once you know you and your family are safe, there is no reason not to release some stress by hitting the local stream.