water temp- how hot is too hot?

[casts_by_fly]

Hi All,

 

I hit a new high water temp yesterday afternoon that I'd never seen before- 91 and change.  That's halfway between my pool temp and my hot tub temp.  I wasn't expecting it to be quite that hot and it was miserable.  Fish weren't active, there was no wind, blazing sun, nothing was moving.  Even the birds were trying to stay cool.  The better choice would have been waiting until dark to start, but you fish when you get time (I love night fishing, I just couldn't make it work logistically yesterday).

 

surely you guys down south see water this hot some times.  How hot is too hot?  At what point do you notice the fish really start to shut down?

 

thanks

rick

[TnRiver46]

Fish metabolism increases with water temp. There is no too hot, I’ve caught many LM in ultra shallow 90 + degree water 

[Jar11591]

Luckily we don't have that problem around here. I've never marked water warmer than 80° fishing the northern half of NYS, even during heat waves. 

[AlabamaSpothunter]

Surface temps are 90d here, you can catch all the Bass you want if you're willing to get sizzled like a piece of bacon

[gim]

7 minutes ago, Jar11591 said:

Luckily we don't have that problem around here. I've never marked water warmer than 80° fishing the northern half of NYS, even during heat waves. 

The warmest I've seen is about that too, right around 80 or 81 degrees.  90 degrees is impossible here.

 

Bear in mind that Florida strain largemouth are much more tolerant of very warm water than Northern strain largemouth are.

[PhishLI]

24 minutes ago, casts_by_fly said:

I hit a new high water temp yesterday afternoon that I'd never seen before- 91 and change. 

I measured 88 in some of my spots last year. During that period I left light line rigs home. No playing fish. Get them in fast as possible and keep them soaked during unhooking, then back out fast, but with an extended release/wagging period until they take off strong.

[casts_by_fly]

5 minutes ago, PhishLI said:

I measured 88 in some of my spots last year. During that period I left light line rigs home. No playing fish. Get them in fast as possible and keep them soaked during unhooking, then back out fast, but with an extended release/wagging period until they take off strong.

 

I think I hit 84-85 as my highest last year.  I'm with you on getting them in fast and let them rest.  I do that anyway in the net during unhooking.  I grew up trout fishing and its the same in the warmer months (and if the water tops 75 or so you don't even go).  

[galyonj]

47 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Fish metabolism increases with water temp. There is no too hot, I’ve caught many LM in ultra shallow 90 + degree water 

 

38 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Surface temps are 90d here, you can catch all the Bass you want if you're willing to get sizzled like a piece of bacon

 

It's true though. I've caught bass that were warm to the touch, and they were eating just fine.

[Bankc]

Often times in the summer, when the surface temperature gets really hot, I tend to do better in deeper water where it's cooler.  The mid to late summer is when I do my best with deep diving crankbaits.  You can really burn them to get them down and keep them down deep too, because the bass are still active.  I usually try to fish either at or just above the thermocline.

 

Of course, I can still catch them shallow too.  Fish are cold blooded, so the warmer the water, the faster their metabolisms.  However, the warmer the water, the less oxygen there tends to be in the water, and that can slow them back down.  So it's a weird mix.  Fishing areas with current or near vegetation can help during the summer, as they'll both introduce oxygen into the water.  

 

But bass are definitely catchable in 90°+ water temps.  I do it every year.  Though on average, I do find it the second hardest time to catch bass, the hardest being winter.  

[Team9nine]

Lethal temperatures for both northern, hybrids and FL strain aren’t terribly different according to research, ranging from about 99-103 deg. F. FL strain does have the higher threshold, northerns the lowest as you might expect. What they have also found is that the bass living in regularly excessive thermal environments like cooling lakes have much lower resting metabolic rates to offset the high temperatures which in turn allows them to more efficiently convert food to biomass.

[ironbjorn]

If they're alive, they need to eat. Unless they're boiling it's not too hot.

[TriStateBassin106]

I fished yesterday on my local lake in Northern NJ and it was identical conditions, on vacation at my lake house I got skunked in the morning session and then went back out in the later afternoon and caught a few small ones on the ned rig. 

 

It was definitely post front yesterday and the heat didn't make matters any better, I fished briefly on the 4th when the storms were scattered and it was pretty good, lost a nice on a jig though that still ticks me off hahahaha

[LrgmouthShad]

I’ve not seen super hot temps shut down the bite. Water temps are hovering around 88 at my local lake right now and last trip was pretty good. They hit that and above when I fished Badin last summer and fishing was still good

 

Unnaturally cold temps on the other hand….

[Bankbeater]

When it gets hot around here the bass move into the vegetation for shade and oxygen.  A breeze helps, but it's still dang hot out there in a boat.

[Woody B]

Thanks to the States (NC and SC) we don't have much vegetation around here.  Surface temps were in the low 80's last weekend.  As the temperature heats up places with current and also places with water coming into the lake are good spots.   Wind blow banks, or even banks being beaten by waves are good places too.  It's my belief the waves, wind aerates the water.   I've caught decent sized bass just outside the mud line at a wave beaten bank.   

Tom (WRB) talks about the life zone.  Once a thermocline sets up DO levels below it don't usually support life.  This concentrates bass and baitfish in certain areas.   

[Catt]

7 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

Fish metabolism increases with water temp. There is no too hot, I’ve caught many LM in ultra shallow 90 + degree water 

 

Some of the marshes I fish are 2' deep max. The bass were born there, they spawn there, they die there. If it doesn't kill em it ain't to hot or cold.

[WRB]

Water temperature is 1 factor to consider but we should add the 2nd factor DO Dissolved Oxygen levels. The DO levels drop as water temperature increases over 90 f degrees to unlivable levels unless green aquatic vegetation is replenishing DO via photosynthesis, the process of creating oxygen during sunlight periods. Bass need a minimum of 3 mg/L to survive. 

Bass move under or in weed mates for both shade for DO during warm water periods.

Wind helps to add DO and cooler deeper water is comfortable.

Tom

[GreenPig]

At around 94 our LM and Spots aren't happy.

[TnRiver46]

Looks like 91 degree water is good for @Pat Brown…..

[Susky River Rat]

Around 80 in the susky seems to start to get tougher. The bigger fish usually do not show themselves either. Smallies may have less of a heat tolerance? I know walleye in the susky become ghosts and we don’t see them till the fall again for the most part.

[Pat Brown]

I have learned something this year fishing with electronics in the dead of summer from my boat.

 

If you are fortunate enough to have a lake where a thermocline sets up AND surface temps are uninhabitable.....all it does is position ALL of the fish on your lake in a painfully predictable manner.

 

Every single fish in your lake should be holding to pieces of cover and hard spots on structure at the depth right above the thermocline.  Catchable?  Maybe at the right time with the right bait etc, but that's where the shad is and that's where they will be also.  Got wind/current rolling past the spots you're targeting?  Even better.

[gim]

19 minutes ago, Darnold335 said:

I know walleye in the susky become ghosts and we don’t see them till the fall again for the most part.

The high temp thresh hold for walleyes is 75 degrees here. When I fished for them regularly years ago, once it hit that, we literally gave up until it cooled off again in September.

[Susky River Rat]

5 minutes ago, gimruis said:

The high temp thresh hold for walleyes is 75 degrees here. When I fished for them regularly years ago, once it hit that, we literally gave up until it cooled off again in September.

It seems like that 75-80 degree mark for us northern anglers seems to be when the fishing slows down a bit for most species. Every species has a sweet spot. I have read some studies in the whole hot water musky debate. Some wouldn’t eat some ate and died. While others seem unaffected. Once it gets hot enough for any species their feeding does slow down to preserve themselves was some of the outcome.

[gim]

5 hours ago, Darnold335 said:

have read some studies in the whole hot water musky debate. Some wouldn’t eat some ate and died. While others seem unaffected.

Most dedicated muskie anglers I know will not specifically target them when the surface temp reaches 80 or warmer due to increased chance of mortality.  Luckily the water temps rarely get that high here and when they do its not for a very long time.  I did observe 79 degrees last Thursday on a local lake near me but that particular lake does not have muskies.  I intend to muskie fish later this week on another lake and it does not look super warm here this week so I don't think it will be that warm when I go.

[FishTax]

7 hours ago, Pat Brown said:

I have learned something this year fishing with electronics in the dead of summer from my boat.

 

If you are fortunate enough to have a lake where a thermocline sets up AND surface temps are uninhabitable.....all it does is position ALL of the fish on your lake in a painfully predictable manner.

 

Every single fish in your lake should be holding to pieces of cover and hard spots on structure at the depth right above the thermocline.  Catchable?  Maybe at the right time with the right bait etc, but that's where the shad is and that's where they will be also.  Got wind/current rolling past the spots you're targeting?  Even better.

This seemed to be the case for me yesterday. I couldn't catch them, but was still a good day because I learned several things. First time I've clearly identified thermocline, and you are correct they were sitting right above it, clear as day even on my old depth finder. Now I can locate the fish quickly in the summer, I just have to find a presentation they like and I'm in the money. I guess I need to consult the bait monkey and then head back out soon to test my theory!