Turnover

[straw hat]

I am going to go out on a limb here and probably stick my foot in my mouth but I sure would like everyones input. Here is how I see it...The highest water temp I recorded was 91 (in the shade) at 3' deep in the CC area in early August. Most of my August temps ran from 85 to that 91. This is about 5 degrees warmer than I normally see in the summer. Normally when water gets that warm near the surface there is a strong thermocline and very very little oxygen that gets to the lower levels during the summer. This leads to a really bad turnover in the fall. As soon as the thermocline starts to break down that low oxygen water mixes with the surface water and sucks all the O2 out of it which really kills the bite for a while. Now I know you guys know all that but here is the kicker...The water at CC started looking like turnover (crudy looking) about 2 weeks ago. I noticed that when I added lake water to my minnow tank the minnows would immediately come to the surface and "pipe" for air. Now wait a minute...by adding fresh water to the tank it usually HELPS the minnows, not stress them out. For the last two weeks I have been loosing a lot of minnows on my trips as soon as I add lake water. This evening the wife and I went to the Hawker Point area (water temp was down to 74) and I noticed that the water there looked "off" colored and a little cruddy. As soon as I added lake water to my minnow tank the same thing happened that has been happening in the CC area. Stressed and dead minnows within minutes. Back in the old days when I was working I could always check the O2 with a meter and keep track of the progress of the turnover. Those meters are too bloody high for me to afford now though. Anybody else notice a worse than normal turnover or is my senility getting to me? Anyone have an O2 meter on their boat?

[sandbc]

Well "Dr Straw" I think you are sure thinking down the right track. Everything you said sure makes sense to me. I am not as smart about it as you are but I can defenitly agree that the bite is more than just off. Its missing. I used to fish the CC area all the time but somehow fell in love with the cedar ridge area and this year in particular because of the low water. Im sure looking forward to meeting you someday on the lake. Keep up the good reports. I know I enjoy reading them..

[straw hat]

Thanks for the compliment sandbc but I am not sure if I am right. I know my minnows were always within a few degrees of the lake temp so it wasn't temp shock and a lot of the fish I have been catching have been real white and tight to the bottom, like they are stressed. Those O2 meters are real expensive (a good one is about $700) and too rich for me. When using an O2 meter it is important to take your O2 reading about 4 or 5 feet below the surface. The top 2 or 3 feet is too heavily affected by wind, waves, and algae. In the old days when I used to have a meter I would run around to my favorite spots and check O2 until I found a spot a little higher than the rest. It would usually produce more fish. Bass, crappie and walleye are particularly picky about low oxygen. .

[frying eyes]

I went fishing yesterday, headed down past mutton trolled the flats. Then went down even further, didn't catch a single fish. I believe the lake is turning over, it just looks different. When do u think it will be finished? Will there be parts of the lake finished first? I'd like to get some fish in the freezer before it gets to cold. I also hope to run into u some day on the lake, I'll keep my eyes out for a straw hat! Thanks!

[straw hat]

Frying eyes, would like to meet you as well some time. I will be mostly bank fishing for the next few months...Just keep an eye out for that old "straw hat". lol

The water in the tributaryarms cool first and allow the thermocline to breakdown and the turnover to begin. This has been going on the last 2 or so weeks in the CC area. I noticed that the water clarity and the bite both seemed a little better last Friday evening so maybe that area will clear up soon. The Hawker Point area seems to be about a week into the turnover Friday and seems to be getting slowly worse. How long it will last? Well if i could guess that I would already have a winning lottery ticket!!! lol It really depends on rain, wind and temperatures. Rain can introduce not only oxygen into the water but also help cool the lake. Wind obviously adds oxygen to the water, especially along the bank where the waves are crashing on the shore. Be aware though that this causes a circulation in the lake. The oxygen poor water will come up on the calm side of a lake (bad side for fishing), travel across the lake pushed by the winds and crash against the opposite side of the lake. As that water blows across the lake it will hit the windy side and sink down (especially if it cooled as it crossed the lake). It will not only carry oxygen down with it but also shad that has blown against the bank. And of course a drop in temperature will also shorten the turnover. The cooler the water gets the more oxygen it holds and the more relief to the fish. The weather doesn't show any real cold weather in the next week but a chance of some rain and wind. My best guess is that most of the lake will probably be pretty decent in the next 2 weeks. Earlier toward the tributaries and later toward the dam. But a bad day of fishing still beats a good day at work.

[Walcrabass]

Straw Hat and others,

I have not been able to fish much for the last month but I did get to go two or three weeks ago. I actually told my fishing buddy that if I didn't know better that it looked like the lake was turning over. We were fishing about 2 miles from CC. I said," that can't be because it is just too early!!!!!" The fish were not biting too good and we only caught about 11 Bass. One weird thing I noticed was that there were "mile long" streams of Shad all over the place. We were on the wind blown side of the lake. I am no genius on fishing but I would think that with Shad all over there should have been Bass there to catch. Didn't even see very many slapping at them on the surface. Now that you guys have expressed your ideas I would say I was right about it turning over. One other thing. I believe I have noticed a weird smell when lakes are turning over. Anybody else had that happen???

[straw hat]

Absoluterly walcrabass! I would say it smelled a little like my brothers used socks but not as strong. lol Seriously though, you could smell it along the windy banks. A little foul smell with a tint of fish odor. Odd situation.

[Dutch]

I imagine that is the stuff coming up from the depths that has decayed. I haven't been there for a while but for the next month or so it will be my only place to fish. I hope the turnover is done and the smell is gone when I get there next week.

[jbeenemd]

It is way too early for the lake to "turn over". The surface temperature needs to get down near 50 degrees before the water can get dense enough to begin to sink, then the lake will begin to "turn over". Do a "Google search". I can not explain the color of the water or the early death of our minnows which I have noticed as early as 2 months ago. I do believe that there is some depletion of oxygen in the surface water but it is not due to our lake turning over. I've also noticed that there is much more scum on my boat after coming out of the lake this year.

Jackie

[straw hat]

I fully agree jbeenemd. That is why I started this string by saying i may "stick my foot in my mouth...". It is way too early. The low oxygen levels in say August didn't bother me. The water was so hot you could boil an egg in it!! (Well, maybe not but close, lol) At those temps the water holds little O2 BUT now with the water temps down in the low 70s the oxygen levels should be back up to around 5 or 6 ppm easily if not higher. The minnows are still reacting O2 stressed and the water is heavily stained. I made several stops around the lake today to see how things were going. The water temps were running between 71 and 73. The water around Hartley and Ruark were very heavily black/tea stained. The water around CC still real dingy looking and smells anaerobic. The black/tea color looks like the water in a swamp or marsh. This color is due to the release of tannic acid from decaying organic material. This organic material comes from the bottom of the lake (dead algae, leaves, etc). This is what suggested to me initially that the lake might be turning over. I also do not see the thermocline any more on my fishfinder. I would be interested to know if anyone else has noted the lack of a thermocline on their graphs. If the thermocline is still there like you suggest (which is possible) what in the heck is the lake going to look like when it does turnover?