I read some fishing magazines at times and they discuss the conditions.

It will be 34* air temp and 58* water temp. How does the water temp remain so much warmer than air temp?

I can't give the exact scientific answer, but I know that air, water, and land all heat and cool at different speeds.  Air will change the fastest, then the land, and finally the water.

Water is more dense than air - therefore it takes longer for it to cool down or heat up.  Air temp can change very rapidly, but it takes water temp longer to catch up.

Its not due to density, if that was true, explain aluminum.  Its has to do with its insulating ability.  Most gasses have none.  Water has quite a bit.  It can hold a lot of energy.

Sunlight is another factor.  Even on low air temp days, water can absorb heat from the sun.

Dang, now I want some sun tea.

I read some fishing magazines at times and they discuss the conditions.

It will be 34* air temp and 58* water temp. How does the water temp remain so much warmer than air temp?

The exact scientific reason is because water is 850 times denser than air, cools a lot slower and stores energy in the form of heat.

It is has much to do with specific heat which is the heat required to raise the temperature of one gram of a substance one degree centigrade.  Water has a much higher specific heat than air so it resists changes in temperature more than the atmospheric air.

Also the water is insulated from below by the ground.  (Which has an even higher specific heat and holds an even more stable temp than water.)   

Therefore the surface of the lake is going to have the quickest fluctuations in temperature and the deepest water the slowest (everything else being equal).  Remember that reading they are giving you in the articles is surface temp.  It can be quite different even 10 or 20 feet deep.

Thanks for that.  Couldn't think of the term, "specific heat."  Been a long, long time, LOL.

Also, there is geothermal heating.  We have that in a couple high elevation Finger lakes here, and they seem to freeze up last.

The depth of the water is a big factor; the deeper the lake the longer it takes to cool. A large shallow flat area, like a bay, will heat and cool faster then the steep deep area around a dam for example.

Bass being cold blooded animals will seek the warmest water available during cold water periods, ie; the dam area during winter and may move to that shallow bay during periods of sunny warm days that slightly heated water and return to deeper water when the bay cools during severe cold periods.

Think of water as being a heat sink, the deeper it is the longer it takes to cool it down.

WRB

Glad there are smart people out there to help dumb people like me.  Thanks for the explanation!

The simple application is --

when the air is warmer than the water in spring, fish are apt to be active with a large strike zone,

when air is cooler than water fish are apt to have lock jaw

Never heard that expression.  Doesn't even bear close to true with my own results.

Never heard that expression. Doesn't even bear close to true with my own results.

X2.

Never heard that expression. Doesn't even bear close to true with my own results.

X2.

+1

In the spring with cooler water temps I do not even get up to fish early. I sleep in and go out when the warmer afternoon air and sun warms the water which in my experience gets the baitfish moving. The warmer water temps also get the bass moving. It is simple, the bass will be more active in the afternoons when the water temps are as much as 5 degrees warmer than the cooler morning temps. I also look for fishing areas on the north side of the lake which will warm faster than the south in spring. The cutoff for me is when the water temps stay a solid 60+ degrees all night then I will fish early.

With cooler air than water temps the water will cool all night and the bass will cool also. It  seems that the bass are more active with 65 degree water than 60 degree water in spring.

It is a cold blooded thing.

What do you think?

Never heard that expression. Doesn't even bear close to true with my own results.

I am talking about Large Mouth Bass. Smallies are different. I go to Canada every year and catch Smallies in cold weather with cold air, and even a cold rain. LM Bass is a different critter for me. A warming sunny spring day is what I hope for.

Surface water temperature has little to do with the core water temperature where the bass live. A 5 degree water temperature change is a major change to cold blooded bass; 10 degrees is fatal.

WRB

Surface water temperature has little to do with the core water temperature where the bass live. A 5 degree water temperature change is a major change to cold blooded bass; 10 degrees is fatal.

WRB

Hmmmmm,

I guess I need a new temperature sensor on my Lowrance. I can find a 5 degree difference in surface water temperature on a sunny spring day between daylight and mid afternoon. The only water temperature sensor that will measure any water temperature other than the surface temperature is a thermometer on a string. If I am wrong please give me the details so I can get one.

Darn it --- my temp sensor is broken -- maybe that is the excuse I need to buy a new unit. 

Glad there are smart people out there to help dumb people like me. Thanks for the explanation!

I wouldn't call yourself dumb. I think people are just very efficient with "google" these days.