You waited all week for your day off, you have the rods and gear loaded and ready to go on an angling adventure to the Eastern Shore millponds, and now the ever-changing weather report calls for rain—dang and darn! Or, should that be a “WooHoo!”?

fishing in the rain at the millponds
It rained from start to finish on this trip to an Eastern Shore millpond, but Max caught one fish after another.

It’s often said that the fish are already wet so they don’t mind the rain, and while it’s true that your comfort level may drop a notch, it’s also true that rainy conditions can elevate the bite. So grab the raincoat and bibs, suit up, and as you pursue your piscatorial passion in the precipitation remember these rainy weather fishing tips.

  1. Try topwater (in light rain) or subsurface (in heavy downpours). Thick clouds and low light will often extend the topwater bite well beyond the usual peak activity periods of sunrise and sunset, and in light rain it often works great. In a heavy downpour, however, the profile of a topwater lure can get lost on the disturbed surface of the water. The fish will often still be looking up and feeding close to surface, however, so cast a lure that tracks just underneath it like a twitchbait or a shallow diver. This is also a good time to try lures with rattles or spinners, which have an attraction that goes beyond vision alone.
  2. Forgo the flash. Bright, flashy lures reflect the most direct sunlight. But in dull, low-light and rainy conditions, matte colors and lusterless surfaces better mimic the appearance of baitfish and often trigger more bites.
  3. Look for currents and breaks created by runoff. A cove with runoff flowing in at the end can have higher oxygen content and be several degrees cooler than the main body of water, which makes it attractive to the fish during the summer months. In heavy rainfall there may also be a break where discolored runoff flows in, which creates an ambush point for predators. Similarly, culverts that are normally dry but start discharging rainwater can bring in the fish.
  4. Head for dam spillways. This tactic can cut both ways—if the rainfall is too heavy, the water may be muddied up and the currents could be roaring. But a relatively tame increase in water flow can trigger lots of action from fish that have been holding in a placid dam pool.
  5. Move in closer that usual to cover and place your baits or lures right up against it. You’d always like to do this, of course, but normally hang back as far as possible to avoid spooking the fish. Well, the rain disturbs the surface and makes it harder for them to see you. That means you can get closer than usual and make more precise, accurate casts without spooking them.
  6. When fishing shallows or weedbeds in the Bay, bring your sunglasses despite the rain. Yeah, you’ll need to wipe them down every time you put them on and it might make it tough to see, but in the uber-glare you can’t gauge water conditions very well with the naked eye. Water that looks perfectly clean may well be discolored, or vice versa. While you certainly won’t want to wear those sunglasses at all times, being able to slide them on for a moment or two and look around with a polarized perspective will help you ID pockets of clean water versus areas that are mucked up.
  7. Choose an appropriate target and tactic. If the sky is shrouded with clouds and there’s barely any light, choosing to target a species like flounder, which are sight feeders who hunt best in bright sunlight, is probably not the best move. Nor would it make much sense to try sight fishing for cobia with the low light and constantly disturbed surface. If you’re fishing and not catching, ask yourself if a different target species or a change in the method of your madness is in order.
fishing in low light conditions
The low light conditions of a light rain can make for epic topwater action.

The most important tip of all? Don’t let that liquid sunshine trap you indoors. Getting motivated may be tougher than usual, and yes you may experience some discomfort. But you may also discover that there’s truth to that old saying. The fish are, in fact, always wet—and rainy days can make for epic action.

Editor's note: We are NOT talking about fishing in stormy conditions here, people. When there’s thunder and lightning involved, it’s a very bad idea to stand out in the open holding a graphite lightning rod of sorts—stay indoors.