You drove all the way out to your favorite trout stream with much excitement and anticipation and when you finally get there you realize the water is chocolate brown. Your feelings of excitement and anticipation immediately turn into frustration, sadness, and probably even anger. But before you get discouraged, muddy water conditions are one of the best times to catch trout, especially big trout, as long as you change your strategy a little bit.

Trout still need to eat when the water is muddy and trust me they eat plenty under these conditions. Although the distance trout can see is decreased in murky water, they can still see well enough to take your flies. Under moderately muddy conditions, their vision may be limited to within a foot. Under extremely muddy conditions, their vision may be limited to within a few inches. Since trout cannot see as well, they will not move as far from their position to take your flies as they will in clear conditions. You need to drift your flies right in front of a trout face and cover the water thoroughly. I systematically cast my flies about one foot further outstream each drift in clear conditions, but in muddy conditions, I’ll only cast a few inches further out stream each drift so I am confident that my nymphs drift right in front of a trout’s face.

Although I’ve seen trout rise to insects on the surface in muddy water, this generally only occurs in pools where the water is moving very slow. Trout normally will not rise in muddy water because they can see very little on the surface. Trout miss a lot of surface insects even when they rise in clear water, so rising in muddy water is often just a waste of their time and energy. Trout will be located directly on the bottom in muddy conditions, so put your dry flies away and tie on nymphs. Make sure your nymphs are drifting within the lowest foot and a half of the water column because trout will hold right on the river bottom.

Use nymphs in a size or two bigger than you normally would because trout will be able to see bigger nymphs easier. Bigger aquatic insects are not more likely to hatch in murky water, but trout cannot distinguish between insect sizes as easily in muddy conditions. Size #16 and size #12 nymphs might look about the same size to a trout in muddy water, but a trout is more likely to see the bigger nymph over the smaller nymph.

Use dark colored nymphs in muddy water because they contrast with brown water and are easier for trout to see. It seems counterintuitive that dark colored nymphs are easier to see, but dark colors like black and green really stick out in brown water. Light colors like brown and tan tend to blend in with brown water.  Black pheasant tail or hares ear nymphs are excellent, but perhaps my favorite nymph for muddy water is the prince nymph. The dark peacock hurl body of the prince nymph contrasts well with the brown water, and the soft hackle and wings allow it to imitate many different insects and life stages at once.

You can still catch fish in fast water under muddy conditions, but sometimes you need to focus on slow water if the water clarity is less than about six inches. The slow water will allow your nymphs to drift within a trout’s field of vision just a little bit longer than in the fast water, so target pools and slow, deep runs.

There are several other advantages that muddy conditions provide over clear conditions. Since trout cannot clearly see your flies, you do not have to exactly “match the hatch.” Your presentation doesn’t have to be as perfect and are less likely to scare fish because your leader, strike indicator, weight, and fly line are also less visible. You can also wade close to fish without scaring them. In clear conditions, a trout may see you fifty feet away and stop feeding or hide for cover before you drift your flies to their location. But as long as you wade quietly in muddy water, you can get really close to trout without spooking them. All of these factors combined give you an advantage and make muddy water one of the best times to fool that old, big, and wise trout.

More information on fishing muddy water conditions as well as other water conditions can be found in my guide book SIMPLE NYMPHING FOR TROUT IN RIVERS & STREAMS.

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