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Does anyone know what the water temps are and have you seen any of the shad dying off yet? One person has already seen temps @ the 38* mark. I can remember a few years back it seemed like around 34-35 degrees and the shad were dropping like flies. As bad as I hate to see such low water temps I think that's EXACTLY what is needed for Clark Hill & Russell Lake if youre looking for some good longlining come springtime.
Hartwell is still holding in the high 40's low 50's. Haven't seen any die-off yet.
Greenwood was upper 40s when i was riding around last Sunday.
don't know what the temp is but if mud and trash are a factor wateree should not have a shad in it
don't think I ever seen that much trash in wateree == that was tusday.
49 to 50 degrees on clarks hill.
Butch,
I saw the same temps when I collected my lake data on Mon/Tue. Russell was warmest (49°F) near the dam and coldest (47° at the surface, 44 at the bottom) in Beaverdam Ck. My station is at Pearl Mill bridge.
Clarks Hill was around 48 from one end to the other....with more trees and debris in the water off Bobby Brown than I have ever seen. The trash made it extremely hazardous and extended downstream well over a mile from the Broad/Savannah conjunction...what a mess!
Hmm....with all the low temps I thought the water temps woulda been much lower. Thanks for sharing. William, how high above full pool is CH now?
Russell was 45 up rocky river last weekend. They was birds all the way up the river feeding on shad after that big rain
Butch, how might the shad dying off help the long lining in the Spring? I'm still trying to learn...
This is just a theory but IMO there is just soooo much bait now that the fish dont have to chase anything to eat. All of last year was unusual maybe just because the lakes were at full pool for a change but the numbers of fish I caught were WAY down from previous years. When you idle thru creeks looking at your graph and bait is EVERYWHERE it makes one feel like the fish aint biting because theyre already full of shad. I used to have much better catches when there wasnt so much bait to be seen.Quote:
Originally Posted by vernona
And BTW, welcome to the boards.:)
I agree with you Butch. The lakes are full of shad and the fish have easy pickings. Been a few years since a shad die off but if we could get some more cold weather to drop the temps a little more I think we will have a die off. The bait is having a hard time swimming now, seen it the last two times on the lake. I don't like the cold but it would help the crappie fishing. Hartwell looks to be 2 to 3' high and a lot of mud in the creek runs and sounds like the other upstate lakes are the same. Wouldn't take a lot for the water temp to drop a few more degrees.Quote:
Originally Posted by gabowman
ronnie we was fishing conoross a few weeks back dont remember water temp up in back of it but the threadfin shad was dieing off and it took us awhile to figure out that the crappie was right under the surface feeding on the die off now that was back during the bad cold snap we had. it about made me die off to after the trip i had a head chest cold for two weeksQuote:
Originally Posted by STUMP HUNTER
Quote:
Originally Posted by gabowman
Thanks, been a long time fan of CDC; unfortunately, haven't developed the skills required to go find and catch them on a regular basis like most of the guys on the forum. Will be able to post when I figure out how to catch some fish:Rofl. Water temps up at Soap Creek were 46 to 47 degrees today and the water was like hot chocolate. Didn't get a single bite.
I can't imagine a scenario when too much bait is a problem. It's definitely a plus for the fishery as a whole. I can see fishing during the die off might be tough but overall I'd rather be marking a bunch a bait than no bait. I don't really crappie fish much so maybe they are a different beast.
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I don't know for sure about crappie, but a Arkansas blue will bite with a full stomach!
To much bait is killing us over here. Go on the water and I have never seen so much shad on the finder. Fishing is just like yours, very slow. They just sit there and open their mouth and got a meal. Seagulls and Pelicans having a heyday in the shallows and run outs.
The past 2 winters here have been very mild. The last shad kill on Wateree was at least 3 years ago. We have threadfins nearly 4 inches long in abundance which may explain the larger rockfish taken this year. The crappie also seem to be healthy as well.
No doubt in my mind the fish are getting bigger from feeding on the abundance of shad that we have now. As already stated the crappie dont have to work hard getting a meal. Since last summer began about all that has caught fish is from dangling minnows in their faces. With all the live bait available it's very hard to get the crappie to chase a jig now. I know I for one cant wait for this year's spawn on the hill. Shouldnt be hard at all catching that 3 #er this spring.:) For now though I'm hoping for enough cold weather to have a BIG shad die off.
I know here in alabama saw shad die off about three or four years ago but it was a pretty long cold spell and only affected the fishing while it was cold. Saw thousands floating around but as far as I know didn't affect much.
I was on Clarks Hill yesterday and water temps on the lake ranged from 54 to 46 depending on where you were. 47 in Little River and Wells Creek. Wells was full of boats. 54 on the main channel near MODOC and 49 down near the dam. We did not have much luck. Just 8 white perch. Still searching for that allusive first ever crappie on Clarks Hill.
Butch, sorry for the delayed response. It appears the Hill was around 3 ft over full pool earlier this month, but is down a foot or more from then.Quote:
Originally Posted by gabowman
Here is a great link to keep track : http://155.82.250.242/ThurmondPlots.cfm
With these cold temps we will have for the next week if we don't have a shad kill off this year it won't happen!!!
The water temp on my depth finder read 45 deg on russell today
I'm guessing it depends on where you look but I crossed the back of Coldwater Creek (on Lake Russell) yesterday and it was about completely covered with a thin layer of ice. If there's any shad back that far in the creeks I'd guess theyre....dead, dead, dead!
Yea the last time I was out all the shad was holding deep over main channels so they aren't likely to be affected. This little warm front Monday might drive some shad to the creeks in search of a thermal refuge and then get stranded with the artic blast Tuesday, then you might get a shad die off, but most are deep.
Put brush in today, rocky river side was 39-40 degrees...should help some
Gabowman, you will be proud to know that i saw a good many shad floating dead on the hill yesterday up on our end of the lake. water temps were in the low to mid 40 degree range.I wasnt fishing , was dropping brush.. Most bait 20 ft deep.I saw no seagulls they were prolly sitting on the water with full bellys lol
Did see shad dieing in Hartwell yesterday at Huricane Creek landing, temps were around 43-44. Birds had easy pickings.
Glad to hear it boys. Turk, tell me what the water looked like on our end. You might make me wanting to go fishing again.;)
I did not go up any of the creeks but the main river and coves off the river were about as clear as you can ask for this time of year.