Fishing a lake with a thermocline

[Htbboats]

I’d like to hear from some on how they deal with locating fish on a lake that has a thermocline.   I fish several lakes that develop one, I try to stay above it but have a hard time locating fish for the most part.

  Thanks

[Team9nine]

Pretty simple, really. When it comes down to it, a thermocline is just another form of breakline. Find where that breakline intersects good structure near deep water along with breaks ("cover"), and you'll be fishing in a lot of the right areas.

[scaleface]

I usually fish shallower than the thermocline with the thermocline being the deepest I fish . I use a depth finder to locate it and bait fish/shad. The shad  where I fish are usually shallower . I like to fish where shad intersect structure .

[NHBull]

In the Summer, I find a lot of fish suspending just above it and they are incredibly hard to land. I try to find cover at that depth and try to dissect it. I have never caught a bass deeper than 30 feet

[Catt]

10 hours ago, Team9nine said:

Pretty simple, really. When it comes down to it, a thermocline is just another form of breakline. Find where that breakline intersects good structure near deep water along with breaks ("cover"), and you'll be fishing in a lot of the right areas.

 

Nah! Can't work...to simple!  ?

[Kjruiz]

@Catt you ever here of Don Dickson? I’ve been watching his masterclass on reading structure on YouTube and in my opinion you are the authority. Is he the real deal? 

[Htbboats]

Thanks all for your replies, just was interested in how others dealt with it.   This lake in question is 130 acres.  Long story but I’ve seen it dry so I know the bottom well.    It’s got some 22 ft water in it, not really a channel in it but has a shallow ditch or two.  One hump that is 8 ft on top with some of that 22ft water on one side.   A couple of steep banks, and a long point or two that have 8 ft of water on top.

The thermocline develops about mid May at about 9/10 feet. I don’t do much good on the hump till June, maybe because of the thermocline and or after they spawn. I do however see a lot of baitfish on it about all year.

I find the fish to be pretty scattered, never knowing from one day to the next where they maybe, but do have a few consistent places for the most part. For them to have such a small brain they sure out smart me a lot! Knowing the lake has thousands of bass, much of the water is elimated due to the thermocline, the electronics I’ve got, there’s days I struggle to catch over 10/12. Maybe I’m spoiled! Probably so!

I catch myself getting in a rut doing too much of the same thing thinking it gonna be different today.    My last few trips I’ve tried to force myself to do something different.   I’ve tried to target water just above the thermocline, 8 ft or so with a rattle trap. Most of these places are flats with not really a lot of cover except the weeds that grew up when the lake was dry a few years back and I have caught a few in these areas, not a lot but a few.   Somewhere in this lake there has to be a big wad of them! Just have not found them.....YET!

Keep the conversation going. Maybe we’ll learn something from each other!

Thanks Again

 

[scaleface]

Is this a muddy  lake ? When I find the thermocline  that shallow its because the water is extremely murky .

[Htbboats]

No not muddy at all.   Earlier in the spring I could see a white spinner bait  down to 32/36 inches.   They have given it a round of fertilizer and it’s now about 18/20.

[Team9nine]

On 6/6/2018 at 10:03 PM, Kjruiz said:

@Catt you ever here of Don Dickson? I’ve been watching his masterclass on reading structure on YouTube and in my opinion you are the authority. Is he the real deal? 

Not to jump in much since you were asking Catt, but Don is the real deal - personally trained and fished with Buck Perry after Terry O'Malley went back to a real job. I don't agree completely with everything he says, but you could sure do a hell of a lot worse these days listening to some of these other Internet/YouTube stars trying to talk "structure" - lol  Well worth watching IMHO.

[Catt]

On 6/6/2018 at 9:03 PM, Kjruiz said:

@Catt you ever here of Don Dickson? I’ve been watching his masterclass on reading structure on YouTube and in my opinion you are the authority. Is he the real deal? 

 

6 minutes ago, Team9nine said:

Not to jump in much since you were asking Catt, but Don is the real deal - personally trained and fished with Buck Perry after Terry O'Malley went back to a real job. I don't agree completely with everything he says, but you could sure do a hell of a lot worse these days listening to some of these other Internet/YouTube stars trying to talk "structure" - lol  Well worth watching IMHO.

 

Don will never be a YouTube sensation to old and antiquated like boring old Buck Perry!

[WRB]

Thermoclines are water temperature breaks that transition from warmer to colder water within a few feet, it's not usually a thin layer or consistant layer throughout the lake. Wind, springs, aeration system or any current mixes the thermocline and can bend or even  eliminate it.

A 3' to 4' zone is normal in most lakes, sometimes very well defined within 1', but bass often move through it if DO levels are sufficient. 

Humps or underwater islands and long underwater points are objects that create upwelling when wind creates current mixing the thermocline and another reason they attract baitfish and bass.

Tom

[Kjruiz]

6 hours ago, Catt said:

 

 

Don will never be a YouTube sensation to old and antiquated like boring old Buck Perry!

@Team9nine @Catt @WRB thanks guys. I’m gonna keep watching with my notepad. Already learned a lot from the Teledo bend discussion. I wish he would use just a bit of graphs or visuals but I just google the waterways he discusses and that solves some of the problems. Great online lessons on structure are hard to find, and the main lake I fish (Candlewood Lake in Connecticut) is hard to get experienced anglers to help since it is a extremely popular tournament lake. 

[Catt]

@Kjruiz

 

http://www.structurecafe.com

[Kjruiz]

@Catt thanks man! I checked out the website, some interesting stuff on there.  Don’s YouTube lectures teach me a lot, I’m also reading in-Fishermans critical concepts largemouth bass book on fish location.  Couple that with fishing structures YouTube page, and fishing hotspots book on how to read a contour map for structure, hoping for the best!

 

 After the In-Fisherman‘s location book, here is my reading list.