thermocline??

[huskertko]

What is it and how do fish relate to it?

[Bass_junky]

This is copied from a early post.

A thermocline is a layer of water between the epilimnion (top layer) and the hypolimnion (bottom).  The hypolimnion is relatively cold and is low or void of any oxygen.  The epilimnion is relatively warm and has alot of oxygen.  The thermocline is rich in plankton and other microscopic organisms which attract baitfish which in turn attracts bass.  The thermocline has an abrupt change in teperature, about 1 degree per foot.  You can see the thermocline on your depth finder by turning the sensitivity high and you can see a dark band around the middle.  That dark band is not always fish, it could just be an abundance of algae or plankton.  The best way to approach a piece of structure like a point is to first find a good looking point.  Then look for the structure on structure like a small finger on a point, but that stucture on stucture must intersect with the thermocline.  Just find the best structure you can that intersects with the thermocline.

[huskertko]

I fish from the bank, but i have heard people say the thermocline in our area is about 2-3 feet deep,  will the fish generally be right in the thermocline?

[Nick]

That sounds a bit odd. 2-3 feet waters should be mixed with winds and such at the surface. Never of heard of thermo so shallow.

[Bass_junky]

The fish should be above the thermocline.  The deeper you go into the thermocline, less oxygen will be present.  How deep is the lake you are referencing??

[huskertko]

not really sure, would guess in the 20'  range at the maximum.

[Raul]

Wow ! 2-3 ft is ......... how can I put it.......too shallow for my taste, you normally see thermocline in deep lakes where water has enough depth to stratify and in a 20 ft lake most probably is not going to happen.

[huskertko]

So basically if I am fishing lakes less than 20 ft deep there is probably little chance there is a thermocline to be concered with?

[Glenn]

Here ya go!

http://bassresource.com/fishing/thermocline.html

;D

[Gatorbassman]

One of the lakes I fish never has a chance to stratify. The dam is equipped with backflow pumps. Basicly when they are finished generating they pump the water back into the lake in order to keep it at a constant level. This keeps the lake from stratifying. I also make for some interesting summer fishing.

[nwgabassmaster]

Not to mash fingers, but that definition of the thermocline is not exactly correct.

The thermocline is the area in the water column that has the MOST dissolved O2.  It also the area in the lake where the bass will find the most comfort.

I have used graphs, in the most sensitive mode, to find the thermocline.  It will be a black band, that is right around 2-3 ft. in length.  However, not all the bass will be above it.

I wish that I would have saved some of the graph information that came from a buddy of mine, when he and I discussed this very topic.  He is a tournament angler, and has done so for 35 years.  It clearly showed the thermocline, and there were bass that were 2 ft. above, right in, and 4 ft. below the actual thermocline.

Although bass will have the same general movements, each bass is different, just as each human is different.  Two bass will have different comfort zones.

As for the thermocline being 2-3 ft. below the surface, I believe that is not possible.  As it was stated, the wind and rain will go that deep, and cause the top layer to have O2.  However, in the summer and winter, while these layers have O2, the comfort levels are not there.

[krisjack69]

This was in this months bassmaster mag.