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!

Ok crazy question,I've had several Lawrence products that showed the Thermocline as a wide line across the screen. I now have a Humminbird and haven't seen the line, does the Hummer show a line or something like a mist?

This is a good thread and a great topic of conversation. The thermocline is a very real and present factor in summertime fishing for any species of fish and I believe it is the reason for statement "Dead Sea" being born and used among fishermen who say they can't buy a bite. Case in point: I heard a couple of fishermen say how Shearon Harris Lake used to be such an awesome place to fish; a lake where you could always catch all of the crappie you wanted to; but now due to what they complained was excessive fishing pressure... has turned into nothing more than the "dead sea."

After answering their question as to how I'd done that day and upon hearing my response that I had caught my fair share... I went on to ask them how and at what depth they were fishing. Well, I found out real quick that they were fishing well below the thermocline where (I'm sure) it is very much like fishing in the "Dead Sea". They looked at me with the same puzzled look that they might if I would have had three heads.

My point is: You would be surprised to know just how many... even "so called" veterans of fishing... don't really understand or have the first clue about water layering and/or the whole thermocline thing of summertime fishing.

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Originally Posted by ScooperDude

Ok crazy question,I've had several Lawrence products that showed the Thermocline as a wide line across the screen. I now have a Humminbird and haven't seen the line, does the Hummer show a line or something like a mist?

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slowly turn up the sensitiviy until it shows up, looks like a thick haze to me

gobbler, I have the haze, just didn't think it was the thermocline
Thanks

Thanks for the post. I went to shearon Harris this evening and did the best I've done since winter time. I fished a drop off in about 18 fow. On my fish finder the thermocline was around 10ft. Thanks again for the great advice and the screenshots to explain it

Even if you don't have electronics on your boat, I've read where guys like to do the minnow test. Drop one down starting at around 8' and see if they are alive. Keep dropping by one foot until the minnow dies. Then you know you are too deep and back up a little shallower.

Fishing the thermocline is a lot like Winter fishing in that water temp's dictate where the vast majority of fish will be. Take Harris in the Winter--you know they will be up the channel from the dam because the shad are looking for the deepest, warmest water on the lake. From now till probably mid to late September, the crappie will all be located in 12' or less of water, so nature automatically eliminates large amounts of water as crappie habitat making it easier for us to find them. One problem that still exists is I do not care for heat and humidity, so can't wait till cooler, Fall temp's to return.

Special K--good to hear from you. Haven't see a post from you lately and glad you are still out there. With all the small fish we have been catching on Harris, give that lake a couple of years and you should be catching some nice fish on that lake.

Wife bought me a clinefinder a couple of years ago, I use that to verify at Humminbird.

Great information, I've been fishing Badin this summer. I've thought about the thermocline but didn't realize it would show up on my Lowrance. I've been doing well, mainly on two different spots which have been consistently holding quality fish. The depths are in 25' to 30' and 35' to 40'. Both have brush piles on them.

Thanks for the excellent info and screen shots. It has greatly helped me understand my Humminbird screens and my fish catching ability. I really didn't know that the thermocline played a role in the summer. Only thought it was relevant in the winter.

fishingman, there really isn't a thermocline in the winter. Once lake turnover happens in the fall fish could be anywhere in the water column from the top to the bottom.

Thanks for the pictures and information, one of the better post I've stumbled across on the web.

You're welcome. I'm still learning how to use it to help fish in the summer. I'm usually a Sept.-May guy because of the heat, but have enjoyed some fishing this summer during the morning and early afternoon. During the winter, the cold water pushes the shad with the crappie following into the deepest parts of the lake. It stands to reason that the thermocline pushes the shad and crappie into water that is mostly 12' or shallower. Still trying to figure it out and find a way to consistently pattern warm-water crappie.

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Originally Posted by JordanLimit

You're welcome. I'm still learning how to use it to help fish in the summer. I'm usually a Sept.-May guy because of the heat, but have enjoyed some fishing this summer during the morning and early afternoon. During the winter, the cold water pushes the shad with the crappie following into the deepest parts of the lake. It stands to reason that the thermocline pushes the shad and crappie into water that is mostly 12' or shallower. Still trying to figure it out and find a way to consistently pattern warm-water crappie.

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Factor in the Solar Bees! Thermocline has been at 12ft from 2007 until 2014. Lsst week the thermocline was at 22 ft?

Monk

I've always been under the impression that the colder water would be more oxygenated. I didn't realize in the summer below the thermocline becomes a "dead zone". Like you, I mainly fish the spring and fall because I don't like the heat of the day, nor do I like dealing with jet skis and ski boats all day. I'm planning on going to Jordan, or Harris Friday afternoon/night. I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for the thermocline now.

I may be an idiot but What are these solar bees that are mentioned all the time

I had no clue myself but found this last night.

NCDENR - Jordan Lake Circulator Demo

If you go up the Haw River arm on Jordan or way up in Morgan Creek (up past Farrington Bridge) you will see the Solar Bees out doing their thing. They are supposed to mix up the water so there are no algae blooms on the lake. Personally, I don't think they could mix up the water in my bath tub. I think the wind stirs up the water much more than those things ever could do. Not sure why Monk saw the thermocline so deep in the S-Curves. Haven't been on Jordan lately and would like to see what is happening down that way.

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Originally Posted by JordanLimit

If you go up the Haw River arm on Jordan or way up in Morgan Creek (up past Farrington Bridge) you will see the Solar Bees out doing their thing. They are supposed to mix up the water so there are no algae blooms on the lake. Personally, I don't think they could mix up the water in my bath tub. I think the wind stirs up the water much more than those things ever could do. Not sure why Monk saw the thermocline so deep in the S-Curves. Haven't been on Jordan lately and would like to see what is happening down that way.

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Get out there and check it out!

Found thermocline under the Farrington Bridge today at 15 ft. Caught fish under the shadow of the bridge!

Monk

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Originally Posted by kilacam

I've always been under the impression that the colder water would be more oxygenated. I didn't realize in the summer below the thermocline becomes a "dead zone".

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Colder water has the potential to hold more oxygen. More oxygen will remain dissolved in cold water vs. warm water. However, when water becomes stratified in summer, the cold water down deep sees very little to no sunlight which is the driving factor behind oxygen generation. This becomes cold, dark, uncirculated, hypoxic conditions.

I'm not that familiar with the Solar bees, but circulation is usually a good thing. It mixes the water, eliminating these hypoxic layers, and keeps fish from getting "trapped" in between dead zones. It also prevents turnover related kills, and opens up more of the water volume as suitable habitat for fish as well as circulating nutrients.

I am 74 years old and have been around lakes in the South all my life and have never seen or heard of an algae bloom on a lake. Ponds-yes! I believe the stiring of the water by the
Solar Bees is exposing water to "heat" that without stirring would remain on the bottom and stay cooler. The Solar Bees are placed in relatively shallow areas in the upper part of the lake flow.

Yesterday, I noticed the depth finder on the transom read 88 degrees while the one on the front read 82 degrees. The transducer on the front is 2 ft deeper than the one on the back.
Both units read the same early in the day before the sun got so hot.

Monk