Fishing hot water with shallow water thermoclines

[Randall]

Saw a few posts talking about fishing hot water, deep water and thermoclines. Also saw one about grass and pads vs deepwater. Instead of replying to them all I will just post this since I have had a few people on another site tell me it was a big help to them over the past week on hot shallow lakes.

One if the two biggest myths about summer fishing is that you always have to fish deep to catch fish and that small shallow lakes and ponds do not have thermoclines. Put these two together and you may be fishing where fish can't live.

I have been fishing a small shallow lake for the past few weeks. Finding the fish is easy for me this time of year since the thermocline is so shallow at 7-8 feet (see photo) it eliminates half of the water. Fish can't live below it so the fish are either down in the grass or pads or suspended near the grass or pads. So the fish might not be the most active fish but they are concentrated where they can live most efficently. Over the past week the larger bass have been suspended more in open water but near grasslines and pads. This is because the fish can suspend over a little deeper water and conserve energy then move to the edge or follow bait to the edge where they can feed most efficiently. As water temps rise over eighty five degrees the fish become more and more energy conservative so you have to put the bait right on the head of the suspended fish at a slow speed and make the bait easy to get and or use speed to trigger a strike. But the big fish will limit there movements and feeding so they are more predictable as far as location and where they will feed. So, as most hate to see hot water on small lakes I look forward to it and the next two months will be some of the best fishing I will have all year.

So what bait do I use? Most of the time its soft plastics in the grass and pad edges. They are weighted either as light as possible to move and fall slowly to be easy targets. Or, they are weighted heavy to fall fast and trigger strikes. Anything in between I don't use. For the open water suspended fish I use good high quality swimbaits that will swim well at a super slow crawl and/or as fast as you can ever reel it burn to get the suspended fish. Just like the plastics if the swimbaits don't swim well at super slow speed (easy meal)and super high speed (reaction) then they don't usually catch these fish.

So, after the guy I was fishing with last week had to his surprise three good fish and lost a monster one morning I went back out in the middle of the day to try for more and got one on video.

I set the camera up where you can't see the exact location but I was throwing at the same small area for 15 minutes till I catch the fish. I also missed one about five minutes after the camera had started. I am throwing at open water where I marked suspended fish and bait near good structure and a grassline earlier. I am casting from sitting shallower and bringing the bait to the grassline where I think/know the suspended fish feed at. I caught the other fish in the photo a few minutes later but the camera had shut off before I caught it. Thought it might help a bunch to see the speed I reel the bait at. I can say slow or fast but seeing it gives a better idea. You can also tell from the video that I fish the area of the cast where I expect the strike at even slower. If you watch when the fish strikes it hits right after a change in speed from fast to slow. The strike was right at the edge of the weedline.

Well that's how I fish hot shallow water lakes this time of year. We had five that went well over twenty pounds that day and that's just a normal good day there. The two I caught ,one in the video and the one in the photo were probably the smaller two of the best five. Hope it helps.

[Catt]

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[Jigfishn10]

Great post and nice fish. I think the thermocline myth you mention is right on. The bigger fish won't go below it and if you can find them, you struck gold.   

[Paul Roberts]

Excellent. LOTS in that post.

[Randall]

Well I finished the original post at 2am in the morning. Went to bed slept till 4am. Got up and went to a different  lake. Thermocline on this lake was a little deeper but very well defined. Killed them on the same pattern as above and saw one of the biggest topwater strikes ever on a swimbait. The giant in the photo came all the way out if the water. Two High Power Herring swimbait fish and around ten other fish between two and four pounds on senkos and trickworms fished weightless or with a 1/32 ounce weight at ten feet.  Maybe I should post more here and do without sleep more often. ;D

[SCangler91]

That bass is a hog.   

[SoFlaBassAddict]

Fantastic post, Randall.  Added to my favorites.

Great looking fish in that picture too.

[Fishing Rhino]

Well I finished the original post at 2am in the morning. Went to bed slept till 4am. Got up and went to a different lake. Thermocline on this lake was a little deeper but very well defined. Killed them on the same pattern as above and saw one of the biggest topwater strikes ever on a swimbait. The giant in the photo came all the way out if the water. Two High Power Herring swimbait fish and around ten other fish between two and four pounds on senkos and trickworms fished weightless or with a 1/32 ounce weight at ten feet. Maybe I should post more here and do without sleep more often. ;D

Those power lines and the house to the right of the fish look familiar.

Maybe see you this fall if/when we visit our daughter in Temple.

[SPEEDBEAD.]

Great post Randall.

After reading your posts over the last two years or so, I started using the light split shot rig more and more this summer. It is one of the best ways to target inactive fish for me right now.

Of course, you gotta throw the High Power early and late too.   

[roadwarrior]

Geez!

Great post, pic and fish!

[Skeet22]

The lake I fish averages 5-ft. I went out for an afternoon trip last weekend and the water temp was 98*!! I need to figure this thermo-cline stuff out. I found a hole thats pretty steep drop off and maybe 30 yards wide that goes down to 18-ft or so. There is a shallow island near by surrounded by shells. I think I need to give this area more time and maybe try to drop shot which i've never done before. I have thrown a deep crank in this area but not for long. I can't ever get this area off my mind, something tells me there is a hog down there. With the limited time I have on the water I always seem to go straight to the areas I have confidence in.

[Randall]

Here is a good example of the blazing fast speed. Yesterday the fish didn't react well to slow moving baits. Lots of follows and short strikes early so midday we changed it up. Air temp was 100 and water temp got to 94. We had to go to a ripping darting burn retrieve over the fish to get them to commit to the bait.

You see me rip the bait hard to get the fish to react as soon as I see the fish follow. I never slow down but the fish still gets the bait going as fast as I can reel. Here are a few of what we got yesterday. Thanks for the compliments.

[Randall]

[quote

Those power lines and the house to the right of the fish look familiar.

Maybe see you this fall if/when we visit our daughter in Temple.

[Chris at Tech]

Not too shabby

you gonna be out on Varner tomorrow?  I'm thinking if taking the drive over there.

[FishingBuds]

Great post, very helpfull-thanks Randall

and nice pigs 8-)

[Randall]

Not too shabby

you gonna be out on Varner tomorrow? I'm thinking if taking the drive over there.

I will be at Bear Creek this weekend. Got to prefish some for the big tournament there next week.

[Gatorbassman]

Great post and fish Randall. I absolutly love the High Power Hering. It's a great quality swimbait that catches fish. It has already put several big bass in my boat this year.

[Jigfishn10]

That's awesome, Randall! Keep it up!