Whatwater Temp Do You Consider To Be Cold Water ?

[Norm M]

While waiting for my daughter to get off work at Barnes & Nobles, I was looking thru the winter edition of a fishing magazine. Every article mentioned cold water fishing at over 40 degree water temps. One guy bit cold water at 40 to 68 degrees .

For me, cold water fishing doesn't begin until the water temps get below 40 degrees .

[J-Doc]

That guy is wrong.

I could post a pic of a 15lb plus striper that would also disagree "with passion" that fishing is fishing. Just slower presentation based on temp. Painful slow down to 32 degree surface temp. The striper was caught in 33 degree water with a trolling bait at 2.5mph in 15ft due to a massive shad kill. Two rods bent at the same time and two 15-20lb stripers attacked two separate baits. One got away.

Also whites were biting spoons on the bottom in 30ft the same time. Air temp was in mid 20's. Water almost frozen. Most of the backs of creeks were frozen over solid and only water with current was not frozen over.

So no......

Ask an ice fisherman in Wisconsin of 40 degree temps are too cold. He will laugh as he cracks open another beer in his ice shanty sitting in front of his propane heater. :-)

[Feathers and Fins]

Yes below 40 air temp and water temp would be cold to people and fish. However not so much as they will just go down to warmer water or on sunny days come up in shallow flats to sun themselves. Remember surface temperature and temperature deeper in the lake is very different. But the average range for most our fish is between 50 and 70 degrees.

So where surface temps may well be only in the 40's or below it doesn't mean the water deeper is that cold. I would like to know if the article discussed temps at surface or throughout the water column.

[J-Doc]

Exactly. Might be 34 at surface and 40-45 on bottom.

[Old plug]

Frozen. The fish cannot swim thru it.

[J-Doc]

Frozen. The fish cannot swim thru it.

Lol!!!! Well you got me there. :-)

It's rare for the entire water column to freeze though. Even in Minnesota it's never more than a couple of feet.

[Ham]

I tend to fish until the surface temp is 40' degrees AND the fish stop biting well. There's always one trip too many where you do all the right things and get a handful of bites.

[Feathers and Fins]

40 surface makes me start seeing Crappie in my dreams, I know several places I don't talk about but is you have a clear day you can have a great day on superslabs. you have to start out deep and move shallow but its some great fishing.

If an Angler is mobile it could be 40 in one area of the lake but run 20 miles the other way you might be in a flowing river arm and its 48 surface and 52 down 20 feet. You just have to be flexable.

[Quillback]

I consider below 40 to be cold.

[Ham]

I certainly agree that warming trends and warm rain inflow can change things dramatically, but when you live 10 minutes from the White River. I'm not going to trailer an hour on the hopes that a few bass may play. For my bass fishing, 40 surface means " wait a while".

Deep water crappie in wintering holes is a different story. In my old stomping grounds, there were several lakes that crappie fishing got very easy when the water got real cold.