It about a foot below the surface. The temperature is just a clue of where to look for fish. It also explains their behavior you’re seeing.Quote:
Originally Posted by cglarsen
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It about a foot below the surface. The temperature is just a clue of where to look for fish. It also explains their behavior you’re seeing.Quote:
Originally Posted by cglarsen
Sent from my iPhone using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app
Google lake water temps, then look for your lake. The hill has one on the internet, and like gabowman i pretty well have land based projects to fulfill. Once the temps start rising above 50 you have to adjust your game plan to the temperature. Once the temps hit 54, 55, i start trolling. As the water warms above 55 they will become more active. Hopefully this weekend and next week look good between showers. My trolling time from others may be different. Hopefully others will chime in. I am still learning myself.
I caught fish last weekend trolling and never found much concentration wise on the fish. We did catch around 30 fish, and most of the time speed was between .7 & .8...as TB said, it had more to do with how the fish wanted it than the depth I was pulling. And this time of year you have to hit them on the head...water temp was almost 51 where I was fishing. Just a degree or two warmup can make all the difference though. If you can catch the rise in temp from 50 to 53/54, things can get good in a hurry.
And I should mention that most of the guys that are talking about water temps are referring to the temps first thing in the morning before the sun comes up. Once the sun start reflecting off the surface of the water the temps rise giving you a somewhat false reading as to what the fish are doing (where theyre at) IMO.
You would think there would be a sweet spot where the temperature is good for the Crappie, but I’m catching them from 8 feet down to 18 feet. Majority are 12-16. Seems those about 10-12 are more aggressive.
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Been an interesting winter here for me. Moved down here in Sep. from IN and spent a good part of fall/winter/spring fishing crappie. Up in our IN reservoirs, white crappie vastly outnumber the black crappie. Here, I’ve hardly seen a single white crappie yet. Been interesting fishing for them (blacks), having to tweak and learn presentation differences, habitat, etc. They have bit good all through the winter, but I’ve been surprised how stable water temps have been. Hardest adjustment has been the heavy rainfall and the resulting red clay colored water. That takes some getting used to - lol
I have only been watching water temps for the last few years. I remember putting a temp guage back in the 90's on my bass boat. Water temp technology has only been available on depth finder for a decade or 2 maybe. My observations probably are not that accurate but only memory. But it seems like it has been a long time since the water temp got below 45 degrees in the winter. Today was 64 air temp here at the farm today, but last time i checked on the internet it was only about 52 degrees on the hill for the surface temp. Some creeks will warm up quicker than other usually the ones with wide shallow bays warm up first. Take notes on these creeks that warm up earlier. It will play out the same each year. Remeber these places and take notes. Back when i started longlining there was not a lot on the internet then. The experience of the guys on crappie.com will help out a lot. It has me.
I've been checking with USGS as they have data on many waterbodies thoughout the country and historical data with graphical results. Here's my lake's last 30 days temperature and water level elevation.
Falls Lake Above Dam NR Falls, NC - USGS Water Data for the Nation
I fished today 02/25/2024 specifically targeting whites on Santee Cooper. As stated earlier on this thread, I typically one pole vertical jig fish brush and structure. Last two times out on the lake, with water temps between 47-49 degrees and muddy, little to no action. Today, with lake still muddy and water temps at 53 the big fish were chomping. Fished same general areas, mostly deeper water, but this time I found the fish aggressively feeding. Caught a beautiful limit of fish between 1.5 and 2 pounds in less than 3 hours.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Team9nine
Thanks for all this info. I have gotten skunked the last 3 outings and was starting to think I had lost my touch! Water temps 47-50 and fish were a few roamers and down in the mud. All were spooky and would barely look at a jig or minnow. The trolling motor would also scare them and fish close to the bottom would dive to the bottom from 30' away!
Guess I will have to wait a couple weeks until temps are higher. This week calls for rain almost every day. :banghead