Thermocline on Jordan

Spent some time on Jordan yesterday trying to find where the crappie are now that the water has gotten so hot. I definitely found the thermocline set up on the lake. You can see in the pictures below and note some of the water temperatures.

This picture was taken out in front of the Farrington boat ramps. Note that the water temp is 90.3. There are a few fish right above the thermocline and maybe a few right at the top. There is no way I am going to fish this water. It looks like a few baitfish, but I don't see anything that I think is a crappie on this screenshot.

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This is under the 64 bridge. Normally there are lots of fish in these waters, but now it is a death zone.

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This is under the Farrington Bridge.

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I think this is an old railroad bed. There seems to be a little thermocline under 15' and a few fish scattered around. They could be crappie, but not enough here for me to fish.

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So, where are the fish? I'm not going to give all my secrets away, but I do want to share one more shot with you. The fish are still in the lake, but nature has caused them to move. Just like in the Winter, the cold sends the fish to the deepest parts of the lake for warmth. In the Summer, the thermocline sends them to other parts of the lake. One thing is for sure--the crappie need oxygen and food to survive. Note the depths of the thermocline in all the other slides and then look at this one. Maybe in the bottom left corner of the DI shot there may be a little thermo setting up.

I did not fish here yesterday, but will check it out for the tournament. There is plenty of baitfish, no thermo and as a result, there are fish. What kind of fish are they? Don't know, but will find out. I'm sharing this information to help you guys out, especially some of the new ones. In Summer and Winter, there are vast amounts of the lake that do not hold any fish. I fished a little bit yesterday, but I spent hours searching the lake to find areas that hold fish and need to be checked out. We'll find out this coming Saturday if this is crappie, perch or catfish.

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interesting the water temp increased but the theromocline ceased, obviously there had to be current in the area, is the lake level up or down?, i know at my house we have got a pile of rain but in the paper they claim we are in a moderate drought.

I fished Thursday above the 64 bridge and marked very few fish. Plenty of bait; but no fish. We did catch several crappie; few keepers. All fish were skinny and malnourished.; probably from excessive stress from heat. The surface temp was 88 degrees. I did not find a thermocline in the area that I fished. From 2007 until 2013, the thermocline has always been at 12 ft.
2014 and 2015 are different; hot all the way to the bottom.

I am suspicious of the Solar Bees stiring the water and causing excessive heating to water that normally would not be exposed the direct sun!

Where is our Biologist?

Monk

Thanks so much for the info. Can't wait till I upgrade the fishfinder so I can get more in-depth information like what you guys are seeing.

Adjust your sensitivity and if there is one u can see a thermocline on most any sonar.

Gobbler is right--most fish finders can see the thermocline when it is this pronounced. I checked the water depth and normal is 216. It is at 215.87 last Friday, so within a couple of inches of normal.

I don't think the Solar Bees are having any kind of impact. I was up above the Farrington bridge early on Saturday while the wind was still down and the water was like glass. There is a fairly large flat that I have been keeping my eyes on, with the average depth around 7'-8'. When I arrived, the water had lots of bubbles and what was probably some kind of algae growth on the surface. A little later, a slight breeze picked up and pushed the algae into concentrated areas. I saw movement in the water and there must have been millions of juvenile threadfin shad feeding in the area. These shad are filter feeders and it makes sense that were the algae is being produced the most, there are the fish feeding on it. I can't remember ever spending this much time on Jordan in mid-summer, so I am learning more each time out. I must admit that I am looking forward to September with cooler temp's and a lot fewer "tourists" on the water.

Monk--how's the new boat doing?

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Originally Posted by JordanLimit

Monk--how's the new boat doing?

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Fantastic! The Ulterra trolling motor never ceases to amaze me, up and down with the push of a button. Got the Humminbird 1199 Si working and the 1159 working. (5) 29 series batteries and a (3) and (2) bank Minnkota charger up and running. So much "stuff" on the boat that we hardly have time to fish. Each trip is a learning experience.

Monk

Great to hear the boat is working well for you. Do like I did and just plan on spending time on the water with the operator's manual on your lap and forget fishing.

Thank you for posting these images, JL. I spend a lot of time watching my " Tv" when I am on the lake, wondering if I am making the most out of my HB 597. Probably should do like Captain Mack Farr did, and scuba down to see what I am looking at!