Post Turnover In Weedy Gravel Pits

[iceintheveins]

Where would you guys focus your effort for post turnover bass with the water in the mid 50s in weedy gravel pits? The deepest water is around 18 feet, with most of the lake 15 feet or under.

[Chris]

where the thermocline starts

[aavery2]

If the fish there are feeding on shad, find the warmest water in the lake, a couple of degrees is enough to make a difference. The shad will migrate to this area and bass should not be far behind.

[iceintheveins]

No shad in this lake, bluegill, green sunfish, and crayfish are the forage. Should I look for them just outside the shallows near the first drop off?

[Chris]

The fish should be where the thermocline starts. It is where the cold water and warm water mix. It is that band of mixed water which will hold the most bass because the food and bass like the temp. That band of mixed water could be at any depth depending on the lake your fishing. So their is no right or wrong answer to where they might be because it depends on where the thermocline is which can change from day to day and some cases during the day. A good place to start looking is the first drop off or change in depth but really you need to be a graph watcher looking for the mixed band of water.

[WRB]

Turn over means there isn't a thermocline and the water column is mixed equally from top to bottom. Pit lakes a small and usually deep with sharp angles banks, if not vertical. The fact that the pit is a lake and not a hole in the ground means it has a water source that keeps it filled. The water source is a key element and during the cold water period is a source of warmer water. The other key structure elements are the road beds where the escalation equipment used to enter and leave the pit, any rock piles of boulders that were too big to move and the perimeter of the pit banks where vegetation and any wood cover will be located..

The bass will still roam around the banks and located in the deepest areas where the warmest water is.

Fish the pit the same as before the tourn over, except the bass can now be anywhere. Suspending jerk baits may be a good choice to locate bass. firetaiger color should work.

Tom

[Chris]

"post turnover" = after the lake has turned over and the warmer water is on the bottom colder water is on top thermocline is in the middle.

[Topwaterspook]

Yampa River brings back sweet memories. Never fished down around Grand Junction. Caught plenty of trout flyfishing, up in Steamboat. Thanks for bringing back those memories for me.

[aavery2]

Turn over means there isn't a thermocline and the water column is mixed equally from top to bottom. Pit lakes a small and usually deep with sharp angles banks, if not vertical. The fact that the pit is a lake and not a hole in the ground means it has a water source that keeps it filled. The water source is a key element and during the cold water period is a source of warmer water. The other key structure elements are the road beds where the escalation equipment used to enter and leave the pit, any rock piles of boulders that were too big to move and the perimeter of the pit banks where vegetation and any wood cover will be located..

The bass will still roam around the banks and located in the deepest areas where the warmest water is.

Fish the pit the same as before the tourn over, except the bass can now be anywhere. Suspending jerk baits may be a good choice to locate bass. firetaiger color should work.

Tom

My understanding is this, as the night temperatures drop and begin cooling the water at a greater rate than the day sun can warm it, the upper level water temp drops. As the upper level water temp drops, the water becomes more dense and starts falling and mixing with the lower level water as it now rises to the top. In some lakes there is now not enough difference in temp. for a thermocline to form. However in colder areas, as the upper level water starts nearing a temperature that is very close to freezing, it again becomes more dense and sinks to the bottom, bringing slightly warmer water that is just above freezing temps to the top until is freezes and becomes ice, lighter than water. In the later case it is possible to have a winter thermocline, but in a lot of cases it is impossible to fish in a typical manner because of the ice.