Are the Rollers Open

Looking for advice on what to do if the dam rollers are open. Watched the AIM tourney awards ceremony and one team said when they opened the dam rollers about 9:00 AM the bite died. When that happens, any advice on what to do?

They are wide open.

When they are adjusted, wait 2-3 hours for the fish to find a new home.

Thanks Brian. Do they typically move downstream or do they find a new home in the dam area?

Every pool will be similar, but different. You didn’t state which dam.

Current changes, available breaks/structure will change, and added structure relating to water level. Dams that have more structure to create seams and breaks will often hold more concentration of fish. Dams with less offerings of current breaks will often see fish migrate down to the next place of suitable current levels

Additionally, the eyes are spawning and or trying to. If you find suitable spawning habitat, they shouldn’t be far away. Doesn’t always work according to the script. Saturday we combed a lot of water that should have been awesome but didn’t produce. We also caught a few spawned out females. So knowing some fish are done, they’ll be looking for much calmer water and good food sources

Thanks Randy. That’s helpful. I was referring to Lock and Dam 3.

In MOST cases, when you get rising water conditions, fish will seek calmer water and aren’t as concerned about eating so the bite tends to shut down. Even when you find them again, they will be tight lipped until conditions start to level-out. When that happens, you need to slow down, be patient & trust electronics.

slow down, be patient & trust electronics.

100% agree

This is often where I see a great crank bait bite shut off and plastics or hair jigs just swept through turns back on

I’ll add just one more tidbit to the above. When the water is higher they will move toward shore for that slack water. (and so do the current seams)

Pitching toward flooded willows will often produce a nice fish picture! Guess that was two tidbits.

Brian Klawitter wrote:

I’ll add just one more tidbit to the above. When the water is higher they will move toward shore for that slack water. (and so do the current seams)

Pitching toward flooded willows will often produce a nice fish picture! Guess that was two tidbits.

As the flow increases, fish seek the same quantifiable current they were previously enjoying.

I.e. when your relaxing outdoors, and the wind picks up, you seek the same environment you once had.

The fish move even tighter to the dam community holes. Your best bet is to push up into the biggest crowd and watch for nets or bent rods. Trusting electronics is one strategy, but trusting a good pair of binoculars for hooksets is even more effective.

In my experience, as the water level rises, they initially push up shallow. They follow the bait, and often times that’s getting pushed up into the brush alongside the riverbanks. Shallow is overlooked. I was pulling fish out of 2ft of water yesterday in a scenario where the water level was going up in a river. If you don’t see fish on your electronics, there likely aren’t fish.