Water Temp Is 88F! How Do I Work With This?

[throwback]

Water temp in the pond I'm fishing is 88F. Ain't catching fish close to shore. Should I be looking deep?

[Grey Wolf]

Yes.

[GrundleLove]

Yes.

Always a solid contribution....

Anyway...

Yes. Go deep and move slowly (lol) with a jig or a senko maybe a crayfish. There is a great BR article here http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/hot_water.html

[throwback]

Always a solid contribution....

Anyway...

Yes. Go deep and move slowly (lol) with a jig or a senko maybe a crayfish. There is a great BR article here http://www.bassresou.../hot_water.html

Not much structure to work with deep either, in this pond anyway. Twelve feet is the deepest I've found.

[SDoolittle]

There is a great BR article here http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/hot_water.html

GrundleLove, did you read that article?

[ripinthem]

Your lake just needs a power plant.

[Fishes in trees]

Is there a thermocline? Once water warms up over 75 degrees or so I use my electronics to try and locate a thermocline. Then I'll try to fish structure/cover that intersects with the thermocline. I don't think this is a cure-all approach, but it gives me a place to start when fishing warmer water.

Years ago (early 80's) there was a fisheries biologist from the University of Oklahoma - Loren Hill. He did quite a bit of research into bass color preferences and water preferences. He believed, and had quite a bit of research to back it up that the single most important factor in fish location was water PH. I remember reading some scholar-type articles he wrote about defining a PH cline, which is like a thermocline, but a distinct change in water PH as opposed to temperature.

He went on to market the Color-C-Lector and the Combo-C-Lector with Lake Systems, Inc. I heard Loren Hill speak at a fishing seminar a couple of years after the Color-C-Lector hit the market. He talked about how he wasn't in charge of marketing, and how the unit had been, in a sense, marketed under false pretenses.

The Color-C-Lector didn't define the fishes "favorite" color. What it did tell you was what color was most visible to fish, given the water color. The primary problem with the Color-C- Lector was that it was too precise. Given 3 feet of visibility, 8 feet down over weeds it would read one color, move 30 feet and now you're 8 feet down over pea gravel and it is reading an entirely different color. It was very frustrating, and as Loren Hill pointed out, the color that bass could see best, given the water clarity wasn't necessarily the color that bass would most readily strike.

The Combo-C-Lector was the basic unit combined with a PH meter. The idea was that you would slowly drop the probe until you noticed a significant difference in the PH. Right at this moment, I don't remember what the "preferred" PH was. All I remember was that the unit was a pain to use, it was slow to deploy and there were many things that effected the water PH in any given location. (wind, time of day/sunlight, algae concentration, just to name a few)

Anyway, the point of this rant is that your question has motivated me to go back and re-read Loren Hill's research.

I'll report more on that later. Anyway, what I do know is that water temperature isn't the only factor in play here. Water clarity and PH also play a role, but I don't know exactly how they all fit together at this moment. Something to think about and research.

[Crestliner2008]

First off, there is no thermocline to be worried about if the deepest water is 12' as you say. Look for areas that have slight depth changes (2' or so), relating to structure (points or humps or coves, etc..). Notice I didn't say "cover", I said structure. Big difference, which a lot of folks overlook.

Once you find these subtle changes in bottom contours, focus on cover associated with those changes, such as a stump or weed line edge, etc.. I'd go with a jig for starters. You might also try the drop shot if they are extra finicky. Senkos will work as well as any soft plastic presentation. If the structures are weed free, then try cranking them. Good Luck!

[Bass_Fanatic]

I fished in 98* water here last Tuesday!!!

[RoLo]

That feels a little like a leading question, that I should say that you should turn your back to the shoreline.

Actually, it's usually not that simple, and with surface temps in the high 80s, many bass will remain shallow

and many will also be deep. What's most important to the fisherman is the depth range of the "Most Catchable" bass.

Regardless of the season, the depth range of Most Catchable bass is continually altered by local weather conditions

and light conditions, so realistically the answer is a moving target.

Roger

[WRB]

Water temp in the pond I'm fishing is 88F. Ain't catching fish close to shore. Should I be looking deep?

The key to your question is "pond".

The bass don't have a lot of choices, to survive they must find cooler water during the next few months. There should be an abundance of prey available; young of the year bass, bluegill, sunfish, crawdads, frogs, worms, insects.

In ponds bass tend to locate in shaded areas where thye can ambush prey easily.

Fish the weed lines that create a break line. Stay away from the edge of the shoreline and keep a low profile like you are stalking the bass. Keep your shadow off the water where you plan to cast.

If possible fish at night or low light periods. Weedless lures like worms, top water frogs and jointed lures that swim at slow speeds are good. A bass in 12' of water can quickly strike at a surface lure without any problem.

Pond bass also tend to move around looking for prey, so fish as much of the pond as you can.

Inlets and outlets where water is moving, dams and over hanging trees are always good areas.

Tom

[throwback]

Inlets and outlets where water is moving, dams and over hanging trees are always good areas.

Tom

I've experienced this in the pond for sure. Problem is, no rain=no water movement and we are in a severe drought. I start fishing about 8:30 PM and fish until I can't see.

[Teal101]

I fish 85*+ water most of the summer that is stained with terrible visibility. I catch quite a few fish with a chartreuse pattern crank around the 4' rang on rocky structure. The fish will be where the food is.

[Randall]

Just some thoughts from reading through this and something from my own experience on small ponds and lakes here in GA. Just because the water is shallow doesn't mean their isn't a thermocline. I live on a small lake approx 50 acres that is 15 feet deep at it's deepest point. It has a thermocline at 6 feet right now. All the fish are shallow above six feet but very few stay on the shoreline. Most are suspended over 12 to 15 feet of water most of the day but are holding at six feet deep. At times they move up to the shorelines and feed but since the water is hot they conserve energy most of the day suspended over the deeper water. They live very efficiently when the water is hot and only feed when it is an easy meal or the conditions are perfect. The best places to catch them right now is on the edges of shallow flats that have a break into deeper water at six feet. Best baits for me is anything that stays at six feet or just above and is easy for the fish. I have been doing best and catching larger than average fish by fishing swimbaits that will run at a very slow speed at five to six feet. Jerkbaits and baits under a float are great for these fish too. Look shallow still but suspended over deep water. Depth control is the key and being able to put you bait at the level of the fish so it is an easy target.

[RoLo]

Hi Randall, good hearing from you again (you had me worried)

Just because the water is shallow doesn't mean their isn't a thermocline. I live on a small lake approx 50 acres that is 15 feet deep at it's deepest point. It has a thermocline at 6 feet right now

.

I'm glad you pointed out that fact, because some anglers are under the impression that oxygen-depletion forces bass

deeper, when in fact it drives them into shallower water, particularly where plant life abounds.

Roger

[Randall]

Hi Randall, good hearing from you again (you had me worried)

.

I'm glad you pointed out that fact, because some anglers are under the impression that oxygen-depletion forces bass

deeper, when in fact it drives them into shallower water, particularly where plant life abounds.

Roger

Nothing to worry about. I had a lung infection early in the year that gave me a real rough time but I am feeling great and back fishing now.

[Randall]

Now here is another thought on small lakes/ponds. That same small lake from earlier has had two days of rain with some downpours of heavy rain. Thermocline could be breaking up in some or all of it just from the fresh cool muddy water coming in. Water temp has surely dropped. Rain water like that has little oxygen value and the lake turnsover and mixes. I will take the hot stable water with the shallow thermocline over unstable fresh water from rain. Some ponds may even have fish kills from this type of situation. I haven't fished the lake since the rain but that was the thoughts going through my head today after looking at the muddy water downstream going into another lake.

[joshholmes]

GrundleLove, did you read that article?

ha i was thinking the same thing.