fish in troubled waters

Idioms  

1. Try to take advantage of a confused situation. For example, He often buys up stock in companies declaring bankruptcy; fishing in troubled waters generally pays off. This term, first recorded in 1568, expresses the even older notion that fish bite more readily when seas are rough.

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Example Sentences

Meanwhile, I was becoming convinced that the Soviets were seeking to fish in troubled waters.

From Time Magazine Archive

The Soviets, Weinberger said on Face the Nation, "have a huge presence in Syria, and they love to fish in troubled waters."

From Time Magazine Archive

I keep myself very passive in the matter, and don't fish in troubled waters.

From Letters of Franz Liszt -- Volume 1 from Paris to Rome: Years of Travel as a Virtuoso by Bache, Constance

The conduct of Great Britain showed a propensity to fish in troubled waters.

From Jefferson and His Colleagues; a chronicle of the Virginia dynasty by Johnson, Allen

Matters were not improved by the antagonism between the Roman Catholic and Presbyterian missions and the traders; each worked against the others, offering the natives the best of opportunities to fish in troubled waters.

From Two Years with the Natives in the Western Pacific by Speiser, Felix