I Thought 50 Degrees Was The Magic Number

[Lord Castlereagh]

So, I'm a new fisherman (since July) and I've been looking forward to the great Spring fishing for months. I've always been told that 50 degrees was the magic number when the fish go nuts and start biting like mad.

 

Well, my pond hit 50 degrees last week, and I've hit it twice since then with no discernible difference between 50 degree water and mid-January water. Two guys at the pond told me that the REAL magic number is 55 degrees.

 

What say y'all.

 

Thanks

[DINK WHISPERER]

? There is no such thing as a "magic number"! So many more things factor into the equation then just water temp.

[A-Jay]

Water temp is only part of the deal ~ 

 

"Probably the biggest mistake anglers make is they get hung up on water temperature. Sure, warming water is important in the early spring, but it’s also highly overrated. I’ve seen big groups of bass move into the shallows when the water temperature was in the low 50s.

Influences that trump the spring transition and are more important are length of daylight and moon phase.

The longer the days the more anxious the fish are to transition toward spawning areas. Now, if we have an extended winter followed by a major warm up that coincides with the right time of year and a full moon, magic can happen."

 

 KVD offers the rest of his thoughts on the subject here . . .

 

https://www.bassmaster.com/kevin-vandam/don-t-jump-gun-spawning-season

 

A-Jay

[roadwarrior]

https://www.bassresource.com/fishing/prespawn_fishing.html

 

 

[iabass8]

Water temperature is relative to where you live. 45 degrees seems to be the number were bass start get active and move around here. Our water temps get below 30 and freeze so a 15-20 degree swing is quite the "warming" trend while some waters might not dip below 45 all year and a 5 degree difference won't make the same impact on the fish as it does in my area. 

[Catt]

Everytime we think we understand bass they prove to us we don't!

 

Pre-spawn was in full swing on Toledo Bend when it was hit with a deluge raising the lake level 2' in about 30 hrs. Raising water dropped temperatures & muddy the lake. Everything pointed to a slow down in bass activity but the opposite happened, the bite got better. To make us scratch our heads even more the muddy cold off colored water was the better bite!

[Paul Roberts]

"Magic" is in one's own head. OR... magic is as magic does lol. Stop looking for magic; It'll hurt you!

 

When I get a moment I'll pipe in with my 2cents. In the meantime, be thinking about the myriad factors that can affect a living critter, like a bass, and all the critters involved in the chain that leads to bass. And then think about just how good fishing is as a consistent sampling method.

[NorthwestBasser]

52.4°F to be exact... Google it, haha

[Team9nine]

The magic number for me is 33 degrees, because when the water reaches that point, my casts are no longer landing on the ice 

[geo g]

There are so many factors that go into the equation.  Fill out your profile so we know what state, type of fish, and other things that start to narrow the variables.  Can;t tell much from the information you gave us.  In Florida 50 degree water will often give our fish lock jaw.  Florida bass are very sensitive to cold water.

[MassYak85]

Here in Mass I've always felt that if we get a nice sunny day and the water is above 45 you will usually see active fish in the spring. But it usually takes breaking 50 to get fish close to spawning grounds, and I usually don't see fish on beds until 55. But these aren't hard numbers, weather plays a huge role and can put them on beds early or knock them right off no matter what temperature the water is. It was either last year or the year before but we had some crazy spring weather and I honestly couldn't tell you when the spawn started or ended, there were crazy weather fluctuations that I think shut it down and started it back up again like 3 or 4 times. 

[J.Vincent]

In most bodies of water, 50 degrees should be warm enough to move some of the fish with higher metabolism into the shallows....but the general rule of thumb is 50-60 degrees with the spawn occurring after that. However, there are plenty of other variables which factor into this equation

[Deleted account]

50º IS the magic number, but you have to sprinkle it with pixy dust and crushed unicorn horn powder while chanting "celcius shucks!" to activate it.

[BigAngus752]

1 hour ago, Team9nine said:

The magic number for me is 33 degrees, because when the water reaches that point, my casts are no longer landing on the ice 

You couldn't have told me this in December?  

[Gundog]

My "magic" number has always been 60 for largemouths and 50 for smallmouths. 

[Lord Castlereagh]

1 hour ago, Gundog said:

My "magic" number has always been 60 for largemouths and 50 for smallmouths. 

Hmmm. Sounds like maybe I should hit the Potomac for some smallmouths.

Thanks for the tip, and to everybody else, thanks much for the replies.

[Bankbeater]

As long as the water isn't frozen I don't worry about the water temp.  I worry about the air temp and how many layers I am going to be wearing.

[Bluebasser86]

Couple of my best days so far this year were on days the water temp was barely breaking 40. I haven't seen 50 degree water anywhere but the powerplant lakes, and the warmest of those shut down last week so it's below 50 now too. 

 

I'm going to go way out on a limb here and guess that there's fish to be caught where you're at, but you haven't figured out how to catch them yet. 

[scaleface]

21 hours ago, Lord Castlereagh said:

when the fish go nuts and start biting like mad.

Although this is a real occurrence , most of the time the fish just are not biting like mad and there are long lull's . You have   to enjoy fishing and not catching or will quickly get bored to death with it . But if you stick with it  and use not catching as a learning experience you will have plenty of days where  the bass bite like mad .  But this is the bass's decision not the anglers .

[senile1]

Regardless, of the "magical" water temperature, at 50 degrees I would expect a bite now and then.  Considering that you are fishing a pond, unless it is extremely large, you should be able to fish the whole thing in a day.  And you would be fishing the location of the bass at some point during the day if you fish the entire pond.  If your presentation is correct for the conditions you should eventually get some bites when the bass become active.  It has to be one of three things:  Your presentation is off, you are fishing when the bass are inactive, or you aren't fishing the whole thing and finding the fish. 

 

For me, the chances of having a magical day in the spring are better if I find where the fish are in winter.  Then as the temperature warms, I can determine their paths to the spawning and feeding areas and I am more likely to to find their location.  This is especially true for larger lakes.

[Paul Roberts]

 

Ok... Let's just say, sometimes they bite and sometimes they don't. And leave it at that.

Edited April 8, 2018 by Paul Roberts
Not what the OPer wanted.

[Lord Castlereagh]

Thanks, Hawg: I'm a professional writer, so let me congratulate you on VERY well laid out thoughts.

 

Senile1: maybe I made it sound worse than it is: I WAS getting fish, but really no more fish than I was getting in January.

 

Thanks, all...

[senile1]

48 minutes ago, Lord Castlereagh said:

Senile1: maybe I made it sound worse than it is: I WAS getting fish, but really no more fish than I was getting in January.

Nah.  I just read too much into it. 

[WRB]

Are your trout or bass fishing?

Tom

[Lord Castlereagh]

Hi, WRB: largemouth bass