Catch them in that mud, laying on their bellies 😂

[Notropis]

Not too unusual for water temps to be different in the river arms compared to main lake, especially close to the dam. That's why the turnover starts much earlier in the upper lake, sometimes as much as a month and a half earlier.  TrophyFishR and Ozark Flyer are correct regarding the difference in volume being a main reason for the difference.  The difference in average depth is also another factor as well as the inflow of cold river water.  

On ‎12‎/‎30‎/‎2017 at 9:57 AM, Stump bumper said:

With that low a water temp you should have seen some shad doing the death twinge. Did you see any shad up shallow on their backs?

It won't be long before we see the threadfins starting to stress and die if we continue to see frigid weather.  The worst years for severe winter shad kills happen when large areas of the lake become ice covered. Those conditions really kick their butts.  I've walked stretches of the shoreline during those types of winters and seen large wind rows of dead threadfin in most areas of the lake. Hopefully it won't be that severe this winter but the next few days look pretty bad temperature wise.    

PS,  Kudos to you Lance34 for your success in finding and catching crappie. I always enjoy your posts and pictures! 

[Champ188]

Given the evidence presented by established experts, I retract my comments about the 10-degree difference. I'm well aware that temps vary pretty widely from one end to the other later in the winter, but I had no idea water temps could be that low already. My mistake. 

[Quillback]

Let's give it a couple of days and then we can start measuring ice thickness.

[Guest]

I'm going to look for ice sheet edges along bluff banks near boat ramps & access areas. I want to jerkbait open water near ice sheets, if the wind isn't blowing too hard. It was entirely too cold today. If dead shad wash ashore, those dudes are getting frozen in gatorade bottles for later use. 

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Champ188 said:

Given the evidence presented by established experts, I retract my comments about the 10-degree difference. I'm well aware that temps vary pretty widely from one end to the other later in the winter, but I had no idea water temps could be that low already. My mistake. 

I lived on a creek for 6 years & now Im crossing the white river twice a day. So I always keep tabs on water flows & temps. The river wasn't moving this fall & only started pushing clear to stained water into the lake for the past 2-3 weeks max. It literally dropped 10 degrees in a week at twin bridges. Currently 34 degrees under the bridge. Lol 

 

https://waterdata.usgs.gov/ar/nwis/uv?cb_00010=on&cb_00060=on&cb_00065=on&format=gif_default&site_no=07048550&period=14&begin_date=2017-12-24&end_date=2017-12-31

[Notropis]

11 hours ago, Champ188 said:

Given the evidence presented by established experts, I retract my comments about the 10-degree difference. I'm well aware that temps vary pretty widely from one end to the other later in the winter, but I had no idea water temps could be that low already. My mistake. 

No worries Champ, a 10 degree difference leaves room for a lot of healthy skepticism and in many ways seems contrary to common sense.  I studied and helped manage large reservoirs for decades and I'm still amazed how dynamic these large systems are. 

[Guest]

if you go thru all the stream gauges with water temperature options, you will find a couple that are significantly warmer than others during the winter. This maybe due to springs nearby the gauge. For instance, the spring river coming out of mammoth springs is 58 degrees today & the white river at wyman is 33 degrees. 

[Guest]

Lake sequoyah is frozen solid today. It wasn’t 2 days ago 

[Stump bumper]

That will put some cold water into the bottom half of the lake. Rain next weekend will get the ice moving north and even with a warmer rain, some of the water will be cooling down.

[Fish Hound]

Lance, that is a nice bucket of fish. That thing has had a bunch in it since the time I started lurking on this site. I never equate crappie and mud bottoms though. Wood, rock, gravel, docks, trees, etc. but not mud. Is this just a winter pattern?

Thanks