PowerPlant Lake?

[.dsaavedra.]

ive heard the term powerplant lake come up recently and i dont know what it is.

what is a powerplant lake and why do the fish pre spawn in the middle of the winter there???

[Hookem]

They are cooling ponds for power plants. Water is warmer than other lakes.

In the dead of winter down here, you can still find 70-80 water coming out of the power plant.

But in summer, its 102 air temp and 105 water. I ain't kiddin'!

[fish-fighting-illini]

ive heard the term powerplant lake come up recently and i dont know what it is.

what is a powerplant lake and why do the fish pre spawn in the middle of the winter there???

In IL warm power plant usualy means NUCLEAR thus lots of hot water to cool the nukes.

Night fishing is like taking candy from a baby as all the fish glow in the dark! LOL

PS I've got 2 or 3 within an hours drive of me and I've never fished any of them yet

Dummy me and I complain about lask of winter fishing go figure

Bank fishing requires a toboggan though! LOL

[.dsaavedra.]

ok thanks.

darn, the only powerplant round here uses water from the chesapeake bay.

[Jimzee]

I've got one just northeast of me, they showed it in the new Diehard movie.  Full of smallies and great fishing in the winter.  One of the few lakes that doesn't freeze over.   8-)

[Gatorbassman]

In IL warm power plant usualy means NUCLEAR thus lots of hot water to cool the nukes.

Night fishing is like taking candy from a baby as all the fish glow in the dark! LOL

You mean like this one.  ;D

[bighed]

Most of the ones around here are coal fired.  The power Co. builds a plant on a large deposit and a cooling lake to go with it.  They are not big lakes usually not more than a couple thousand acres.  They get hammered hard this time of year.

[Tom Bass]

I fish the McGuire hot hole on Lake Norman sometimes and the water temp is always higher there from the nuke plant. In the summer the water would reach 103 degrees but the bass would still feed on the shad there. In the winter it's much cooler water but it's still 20 -30 degrees warmer than the rest of the lake water.

[RobbyZ5001]

For collegiate bass fishing the one year they fished Lake Newton in IL. They fished it in spring the boats they trailored had like 3 inches of snow on them. These powerplant lakes are our solution for winter in the northeast! Horray! ;D

[Bass_Akwards]

There's a power plant lake here in Boulder and I've heard the fish get well over state record size there.  Problem is, they have it fenced off.  It's complete torture.  A fisherman i met this summer, told me he has photos of 15pound bass that came from that lake.  Him and his friends cut a hole in the fence in 1999 and again in 2004 and caught MONSTERS.  The state record in Colorado is 11.5pds.  I am dying to bust in there and fish it this winter.  Not sure if I am willing to do it though.

[Tin]

I fish the McGuire hot hole on Lake Norman sometimes and the water temp is always higher there from the nuke plant. In the summer the water would reach 103 degrees but the bass would still feed on the shad there. In the winter it's much cooler water but it's still 20 -30 degrees warmer than the rest of the lake water.

The first time I ever fished down south was on Norman. I know what you mean, we had 98* water on spots and you would see fishing busting on top all day long, blew my mind. Not to mention how all along the banks there was this orange/red dirt. Weird

[Jake.]

I fish the McGuire hot hole on Lake Norman sometimes and the water temp is always higher there from the nuke plant. In the summer the water would reach 103 degrees but the bass would still feed on the shad there. In the winter it's much cooler water but it's still 20 -30 degrees warmer than the rest of the lake water.

The first time I ever fished down south was on Norman. I know what you mean, we had 98* water on spots and you would see fishing busting on top all day long, blew my mind. Not to mention how all along the banks there was this orange/red dirt. Weird

That dirt is red clay. Its not just on the shores of lakes, if you dig a hole deep enough anywhere in NC you will run in to that stuff.

[.dsaavedra.]

this is a serious question.....are the bass in powerplant lakes every mutated at all?

[flechero]

this is a serious question.....are the bass in powerplant lakes every mutated at all?

No more than anywhere else. There are several types of cooling set ups but the lake water only goes across hot pipes, tubes or some type of cooling fins. Kind of like the air does in your heat & AC unit in your house. So any polution is from the "exhaust" that comes from burning the coal in a coal fired plant. (but wind normally carries it off) Most of what you "see" is steam from the water in the cooling process.

[bighed]

There is one pp lake east of here (Lake Welsh) that has a fish consumption warning sign at the ramp.  I think the problem is selenium from the plants exhaust.  BTW, the catfishing in that lake is unreal with little or no pressure of the fish.

[.dsaavedra.]

this is a serious question.....are the bass in powerplant lakes every mutated at all?

No more than anywhere else. There are several types of cooling set ups but the lake water only goes across hot pipes, tubes or some type of cooling fins. Kind of like the air does in your heat & AC unit in your house. So any polution is from the "exhaust" that comes from burning the coal in a coal fired plant. (but wind normally carries it off) Most of what you "see" is steam from the water in the cooling process.

ok thanks.

[Matt Fly]

I fished FAyette County in Texas, talk about some sore mouthed fish, every other fish had a hook spot or two already in their mouths froming being caught recently.     Thats a lake, that if you caught 20 fish in ther in 97, you had an 5 pound average.     A few years later, if you caught 20, most were some nice 6 pounders.     I haven't been since leaving Central Texas, but was always on the list for a few trips a year back then.