Is The Top Water Bite Over?

[eyedabassman]

My guess is smaller panfish, gizzard shad and such. I did see in one main channel area up the White, schooling shad with bass feeding on them, some of the shad schools were deep - 40-50 feet down. Bill Babler has reported some of the guides are getting fish 30-50 feet deep, so I'm thinking with no thermocline the fish have a lot of vertical water they can move in.

No thermocline? How can there not be one? I am new here so I am just asking!

[Quillback]

As I understand it, fall turnover gets rid of the thermocline. It forms again, though not guaranteed, in the summer, usually in June on Table Rock. If you Google "Thermocline" you'll get a much more detailed explanation than I can provide.

[dtrs5kprs]

Don't think it is hot enough to thermocline yet. Just started seeing 78 degree water this afternoon, post deluge. All those cloudy days and cool nights have things goofed up.

[magicwormman]

I think you guys have it figured out perfectly! The top water bite has been almost non existent this year. I had one great day in the rain, back in April on the fin, since than I can count on one hand the number of top water fish that I've caught. Just maybe the shad kill was severe enough this year and the crawfish numbers are high to justify the bottom feeding activity.

[danop69]

Don't think it is hot enough to thermocline yet. Just started seeing 78 degree water this afternoon, post deluge. All those cloudy days and cool nights have things goofed up.

Dave is pretty much right on with his thinking here. Maybe I can shed some light. In most temperate climates like ours lakes will stratify in horizontal layers. Cold water is more dense than than warm water so it sinks and the warmer water will sit on top. So as the Sumer goes on this top layer will continue warm and warm. The point in the water column where the water temp starts to decrease more drastically as you go deeper is called the "thermocline". In relation to this drastic water temp change is dissolved oxygen levels. Cold water holds less dissolved oxygen than warm water and can become somewhat deleted throughout the summer months. As the summer goes on, as Bill and many have pointed out, you can actually see the thermocline on your graphs as a pretty distinct line going horizontally across the graph. The upper warmer layer "epilimnion" will continue to warm throughout the summer forming what some refer to as a "hard thermocline" and is usually very noticeable on the graph. At this point in the summer dissolved oxygen can become depleted by microorganisms which will cause fish to stay above the thermocline because it's a much easier way of life for a warm water fish to exist. Not that fish cannot live below the thermocline they can, it's just a different less energetic life because of the lack of oxygen. This is why you will notice the bass will sit just above the thermocline in the late summer because the water is coolest there while still holding sufficient amounts of oxygen needed to expend the amounts of energy needed to attack forage. The bass also know that a large number of their prey species can also be found above the thermocline.

The thermocline in most temperate climates will disappear at certain times of the year. Usually once in the spring and once in the fall. This is when the "turnovers" occur. As the upper layer water temps cool in the fall to the point where it starts to reach the temp of the underlying cool water a mixing of layers will occur. This mixing of layers allows an influx of nutrients to a once depleted lower layer of colder water. In most of our lakes around here this will occur twice a year, once in the spring and once in the fall defining what is called a dimictic lake (di - meaning two). There are also amictic (once) and polymictic (many) that occur as we'll.

Hope this helps a little.

Dan

[abkeenan]

Dave is pretty much right on with his thinking here. Maybe I can shed some light. In most temperate climates like ours lakes will stratify in horizontal layers. Cold water is more dense than than warm water so it sinks and the warmer water will sit on top. So as the Sumer goes on this top layer will continue warm and warm. The point in the water column where the water temp starts to decrease more drastically as you go deeper is called the "thermocline". In relation to this drastic water temp change is dissolved oxygen levels. Cold water holds less dissolved oxygen than warm water and can become somewhat deleted throughout the summer months. As the summer goes on, as Bill and many have pointed out, you can actually see the thermocline on your graphs as a pretty distinct line going horizontally across the graph. The upper warmer layer "epilimnion" will continue to warm throughout the summer forming what some refer to as a "hard thermocline" and is usually very noticeable on the graph. At this point in the summer dissolved oxygen can become depleted by microorganisms which will cause fish to stay above the thermocline because it's a much easier way of life for a warm water fish to exist. Not that fish cannot live below the thermocline they can, it's just a different less energetic life because of the lack of oxygen. This is why you will notice the bass will sit just above the thermocline in the late summer because the water is coolest there while still holding sufficient amounts of oxygen needed to expend the amounts of energy needed to attack forage. The bass also know that a large number of their prey species can also be found above the thermocline.

The thermocline in most temperate climates will disappear at certain times of the year. Usually once in the spring and once in the fall. This is when the "turnovers" occur. As the upper layer water temps cool in the fall to the point where it starts to reach the temp of the underlying cool water a mixing of layers will occur. This mixing of layers allows an influx of nutrients to a once depleted lower layer of colder water. In most of our lakes around here this will occur twice a year, once in the spring and once in the fall defining what is called a dimictic lake (di - meaning two). There are also amictic (once) and polymictic (many) that occur as we'll.

Hope this helps a little.

Dan

Nicely put. Good info right there.

[Champ188]

Very informative and well stated, Dan. Thanks for taking the time to explain in plain terms.

[danop69]

Thanks Champ. Tried to explain it the easiest way I could. That one can be a tough one for many to understand but I think it's worth my time if i can help anyone. Lord knows I've gotten a wealth of information from this forum the past few years from you and many others and it's always appreciated! So I feel the obligation to give back when I can. I will be down Saturday morning for my annual week of fishing and relaxation with family and friends and I'm literally counting the hours. Hope the tw bite picks up a bit because I have plenty of fins, spooks and poppers primed and ready for some action not to mention the "little rig." Ha! Tight lines my friends and good fishin!

Dan

[Champ188]

Hope you have a great trip, Dan. Don't try to force-feed em that topwater too long. There's a pretty good fb jig and hula grub bite starting, along with the usual early summer dock bite (shaky head and finesse jig).

[danop69]

Thanks Champ! We'll definitely be throwing the jig! Probably try the grub and finesse as we'll. We also have a couple of docks over some pretty deep water near us too that are for sure to be visited. We'll make sure to post the results of our mornings throughout the week. We stay in the Kimberling City area so that's probably where we will focus our attention. Would also love to run in to some schools of Whites. That's a blast as long as we can keep the hooks in them and out of our hands! Guess that's why we have that net! Thanks for the info and good fishin!