Wind Circulation

[straw hat]

I know that most experienced fishermen know about wind circulation but there is also some younger anglers on the site so I thought a quick explanation might help them. Someone (Sorry, I don’t remember who) recently posted that they went fishing last Saturday and was surprised that the south facing bank was the coolest and the north facing bank was the warmest. This is easy to explain when one considers that the wind was from the north last Saturday. That north wind pushed the warm water against the south bank (which faces the north). And due to the circulation in the lake from the wind, the cooler deeper water is brought up to the surface along that north bank (which faces the south). See the diagram for spring below. This effect can be important when you are looking for particularly warmer water (say winter or early spring) or cooler water in summer. Also don’t forget that that windy bank is real important during summer because of the extra 1 to 3 ppm oxygen it can put in the water due to waves and agitation. When that lake surface temperature is really hot in summer this can make a huge difference.

Circulation.doc

[Walleyedmike]

Good information Straw Hat. Do you think the winter circulation on an unfrozen lake is similar to the spring and fall circulation on the charts?

WM

[murphdog]

Makes sense...thanks for the good info.

[straw hat]

Good information Straw Hat. Do you think the winter circulation on an unfrozen lake is similar to the spring and fall circulation on the charts?

WM

It sure is walleyedmike! The maximum density of water is at 38 degrees (as the water cools the colder water is on top (that is why ice floats). At those temps teh water mixes readiy and acts like the spring/fall circulation pattern,

[Harps]

(as the water cools the colder water is on top (that is why ice floats).

At the risk of sounding like a know-it-all........Ice doesn't float because it's colder than liquid water, it floats because it is less dense than liquid water. The more dense water displaces the less dense ice and pushes it to the top.

[straw hat]

At the risk of sounding like a know-it-all........Ice doesn't float because it's colder than liquid water, it floats because it is less dense than liquid water. The more dense water displaces the less dense ice and pushes it to the top.

Thats right Harp. That is why I mentioned that the maximum density of water is at 38. As the water drops below 38 it becomes less dense.