Finding Water Temps?

[SpinnerbaitSlinger]

is there any way to find the water temps without going out on the water?

[Koofy Smacker]

Not unless your lake has a usgs gauge on it that can tell you temps. Even those can be off by quite a bit depending if it is on a dam reading water which was pulled from down deep. Other than that not really

[SpinnerbaitSlinger]

there is a usgs guage nearby where I want to fish, but the usgs site doesn't show water temps

[wnybassman]

RC helicopter with a pool thermometer.

[ww2farmer]

RC helicopter with a pool thermometer.

You speak from experience?

[WRB]

AccuRite digital water temperature with 10' probe, about $13.

You can put the probe in the water by clipping onto you rod tip or lure. You can also put the probe into the bass throat and take the body temp, the bass body temp is the same as the water it came out of.

Tom

[wnybassman]

You speak from experience?

 

 

It's plausible.

[Koofy Smacker]

Be careful with the USGS stuff though. As a geologist I deal with them all the time with stream flows, lake levels, suspended particle levels etc. "nearby" is never the same. I have a few lakes around me which have nearby gauges on the outflow rivers and streams and they are always colder in the winters, and warmer in the summers from being shallower. Only one of the lakes I fish has one actually on the dam itself which measures lake height and water temp and this is pretty accurate although it doesnt fluctuate nearly as much as one would think. Only major storms really affect it. Top surface temps which we as fisherman deal with can change a lot more than the usgs gauges. If you need a hand in finding the best one in your area just shoot me a message and ill help you out

[SpinnerbaitSlinger]

I did find the usgs historical data for two along the river, one upstream from where I plan to fish, and one downstream. They seemed to be in the range for water temps you'd expect for the time of year.