Not really sure where all the fish go. But I do know that there is more friction at the bottom of the river and along the banks that there is out in the middle of the river channel. Friction between the river bottom and the water slows the water down at that interface. The center of the river channel both vertically and horizontally is where you get the fastest flow rate.
Now when the river is out of his channel or banks it spreads out over the surrounding lands and slows down. River water has to travel farther along the OUTSIDE bend so it must go faster on the outside bend. The water that flows across an INSIDE BEND does not have as far to travel to get around the bend so it's going slower. The inside bend is where you will get deposits of silt under normal conditions.
Oxbow lakes are formed during times of high water flooding as they may wash a new channel cut though a long peninsula.
I would think that if the rains all fell up north then the creeks down south will not have much flow in them going to the river. But the river can back up into these creeks providing the fish a place to rest and feed out of the flood water's currents.
Another thing to remember when you fish muddy water. The bottom water's may be clearer than the surface waters. The same friction at the very bottom of the river that slows down the current also helps the water drop it's sediment out and that way the bottom waters are more clear.
I read that somewhere and believe it to be true. Gravity and the attraction of the bottom for the particles suspended in the waters will help clear the bottom water faster. I think that there are some physical forces in action between the bottom on the lake and the particles suspended in the water.
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