waskeyc

As a follow-up to my original post, I have returned to the stream . Actually a different stream, but similar, with the same species variety and density. The difference was, today it was murky with visibility about 1 foot or less. And in 30 minutes, I landed 5 fish, including one smallmouth. I was not being particularly careful about staying out of sight either. Several of the fish took my lure right at my feet. So the question becomes, other than long casts, which may be impossible with lots of vegetation, how do you sneak up on these fish when the water is clear?

Yesterday, on the way home from work, I visited a local stream for a few casts. The stream level is near normal for this time of year, but the water is the clearest I remember seeing it. Areas that were over 2 feet deep had a clearly visible bottom. I also saw numerous fish mulling around, and although I’m sure they saw me, they didn’t seem spooked or frightened. The most common fish appeared to be largemouth bass, mostly 7 or 8 inches. Next most common was redbreast sunfish, 6 or 7 inches. There were also a few smallmouth, about 8 or 10 inches. Those were just the ones I saw, I know there are bigger fish in there, including smallmouth up to 3 lbs (see my avatar). I did not see any smaller baitfish, but I didn’t look that closely either. Because the bank is so steep, there is no way to approach the stream stealthily, so I’m sure the fish were well aware of my presence, though I was wearing dull-colored clothing and the area is in total shade. The water temperature was about 64F, with drop of about 10F over the last two weeks or so. My first cast was with a 2” dark curlytail grub on a yellow 1/8oz jig head, and I got several bites. I think they were from the same fish, who was following the lure, and it looked like a good-sized sunfish. I didn’t hook him though, and all subsequent casts there was nothing more than a follow. I changed lures to a 3” shad-colored swimbait, and again, only occasional follows. I tried letting the bait sit on the bottom for several minutes, and I tried burning it back fast enough to create a wake on the surface, and nothing. These fish were seriously uninterested. I didn’t get to try any other lures, because I had to get home. My thoughts are, besides dangling a nightcrawler on the bottom and being patient, my next lure choices would be a jerkbait, a topwater chugger, maybe another curlytail grub with a more subtle jig head color, or possibly a Texas-rigged 6” plastic worm. I have had tremendous success in the past catching sunfish on a floating fly-popper, but I’ve not caught any bass with it. Fast retrieves might be better than slow, and minimizing my visibility to the fish is probably very important. Does anyone have other suggestions for hooking these wary fish?

Although at first glance I would suspect that the water in the depths should be near the underground mean temperature (~57F in VA I think), the temperature profile at SML shows the temp at 100' near 57F and still dropping steadily. Also, looking at the measurements from Missouri, the minimum temperature is 42F, which is getting quite close to 39F, and probably below the subterranean temperature. Has anyone been able to measure the temperature all the way to the bottom in very deep lakes during the summer? What did you find? Of course, if there isn't enough disolved oxygen below the thermocline, then it doesn't make much differences for the purposes of fishing, but some clear lakes with high water clarity may have adequate disolved oxygen, even in the depths.

As a father of four, the oldest is 6, I know what it's like to go fishing and not fish! I tell my wife that the number of fish I catch is inversly proportional to the number of kids I take with me.

Chris here, from central Virginia. I fish mostly a small stream near my house, but wherever I get a chance. I have a canoe that I sometimes use for fishing, other times I just fish from shore. I enjoy multi-species fishing, but especially smallmouth. Both smallmouth and largemouth are present in my stream, though the largemouth don't get very big. There are also several species of sunfish, black crappie, bullheads, white catfish, and suckers.

So what does it look like beyond 100'? I've often wondered if deep lakes (definition of deep unknown, but SML should meet the criteria) maintain a bottom temperature of 39F year round. The depth of SML in the main basin is over 200', and extrapolating the temperatures from the surface (~77F) to 100' (~58F) for another 100' would bring the temperature close to 39F. (Note that 39F is the most dense water gets, below that temperature it begins to expand again, which is why ice floats.) If so, then on a hot summer day, provided oxygen is present in the depths, a fish can find any temperature water it wants, from hot to 39F. Also, at what surface temperature does fall turnover begin? Is it the temperature at or near the thermocline (~68F in the SML example)?