Catch them in that mud, laying on their bellies 😂

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. 

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

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. 

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

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. 

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. 

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

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.

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

Most coves are partially frozen over now. Neil’s bluff was totally solid. The river current has slowed to a trickle & twin bridges is nearly solid. I would assume any boat ramp in these smaller coves will be completely frozen over this week. I haven’t seen any dead shad yet, but their clock is ticking