High water temps, bright sun, little wind, stained water. 2024

Further North reply :

Scenario:

Water temps 80° in the AM, climbing to 85°.

Stained flowage (Chippewa Flowage, SE of Hayward, WI). Parts of the flowage are clear-ish, some are heavily stained.

Air temps 80° - 85° daytime, 51° - 59° overnight.

Weather will be sunny/mostly sunny, not much wind (might top out around 7 - 8 MPH late afternoon).

Will be getting to the lake after a day of thunderstorms. Barometer should be steady or slightly rising while we are there, with a dip at the end of the day Saturday.

Relatively high fishing pressure for a NW WI lake.

How would you fish this?

Glaucus reply :

Let me tell you bout my best friend (Ned)

Further North reply :

On 8/15/2018 at 6:21 AM, Glaucus said:

Let me tell you bout my best friend (Ned)

Interesting thought...where would you fish them?

NHBull reply :

2 thoughts

Find the thermocline and match the bottom to that depth.

Look for cover and laydowns in the AM shallow

Popper, Jerks, Jigs,.....dropshot if all off fails

Dirtyeggroll reply :

Probably a thermocline, which can help you target depth.

A-Jay reply :

Forget the deep water -

Get on 'the biggest' mid depth flat (4-8 ft) somewhat close to deep(er) water.

Don't fish until you find the food, perch, small sunnies or pumpkinseeds or crayfish - (like gold btw).

Once you do, make long casts and Burn your favorite (insert most appropriate for the deal) horizontal presentation all over that deal.

Admittedly, super early mornings may be your best bet and the bite may not last - especially if there's zero wind.

But it's worth a shot.

Hang on . . . . .

A-Jay

Further North reply :

Thanks - especially on the thermocline.

Hadn't thought of that as I usually don't have to deal with bathwater this warm.

On 8/15/2018 at 6:51 AM, A-Jay said:

Forget the deep water -

Get on 'the biggest' mid depth flat (4-8 ft) somewhat close to deep(er) water.

Don't fish until you find the food, perch, small sunnies or pumpkinseeds or crayfish - (like gold btw).

Once you do, make long casts and Burn your favorite (insert most appropriate for the deal) horizontal presentation all over that deal.

Admittedly, super early mornings may be your best bet and the bite may not last - especially if there' zero wind.

But it's worth a shot.

Hang on . . . . .

A-Jay

Thanks.

Are you dealing with the same high water temps we are this year? It's just gross... I'm thinkin' rivers...

Glaucus reply :

On 8/15/2018 at 6:28 AM, Further North said:

Interesting thought...where would you fish them?

Ned is amazing at work, at home, at the gym, at the restaurant, at the bank. Ned is Ned and we all strive to be like Ned. He never fails. Ned wins at life

A-Jay reply :

On 8/15/2018 at 6:51 AM, Further North said:

Thanks - especially on the thermocline.

Hadn't thought of that as I usually don't have to deal with bathwater this warm.

Thanks.

Are you dealing with the same high water temps we are this year? It's just gross... I'm thinkin' rivers...

Yes - air temps approaching 90 and water temps shallow in the mid-70's.

But I have to say the exact opposite of what I expected has happened.

Bait is shallow and the big fish are on them hard.

Past two days the smallies I'm on are averaging over 5 1/2 lbs.

Go look shallow first.

You can catch nothing anywhere . . .

A-Jay

Further North reply :

On 8/15/2018 at 6:59 AM, Glaucus said:

Ned is amazing at work, at home, at the gym, at the restaurant, at the bank. Ned is Ned and we all strive to be like Ned. He never fails. Ned wins at life

Great stuff...we all love Ned...but how would you fish Ned in the circumstances above?

Glaucus reply :

On 8/15/2018 at 7:43 AM, Further North said:

Great stuff...we all love Ned...but how would you fish Ned in the circumstances above?

Anywhere you know has bass. It's the least complicated thing brother. Swim it, hop it Ned will get it done anywhere they are.

Further North reply :

On 8/15/2018 at 7:02 AM, A-Jay said:

Yes - air temps approaching 90 and water temps shallow in the mid-70's.

But I have to say the exact opposite of what I expected has happened.

Bait is shallow and the big fish are on them hard.

Past two days the smallies I'm on are averaging over 5 1/2 lbs.

Go look shallow first.

You can catch nothing anywhere . . .

A-Jay

I'm a terrible warm water fisherman...if we had mid 70s water temps, I'd be fine...but this is 10° over what I was expecting...add the pea soup clarity, and I'm way off my game...

I like clear, cold water...I may get grumpy... ????

On 8/15/2018 at 7:48 AM, Glaucus said:

Anywhere you know has bass. It's the least complicated thing brother. Swim it, hop it Ned will get it done anywhere they are.

Thanks - I've not fished them a bunch.

I have one rod I can dedicate to that set-up, I'll have it set up tomorrow, ready to go.

Russ E reply :

On 8/15/2018 at 6:51 AM, A-Jay said:

Forget the deep water -

Get on 'the biggest' mid depth flat (4-8 ft) somewhat close to deep(er) water.

Don't fish until you find the food, perch, small sunnies or pumpkinseeds or crayfish - (like gold btw).

Once you do, make long casts and Burn your favorite (insert most appropriate for the deal) horizontal presentation all over that deal.

Admittedly, super early mornings may be your best bet and the bite may not last - especially if there' zero wind.

But it's worth a shot.

Hang on . . . . .

A-Jay

^^^ this.

If that does not work, back off to the deeper water and drag a big worm or jig off the edges of that flat.

Like @ajay said. don't fish until you find the food.

Glaucus reply :

On 8/15/2018 at 7:49 AM, Further North said:

I'm a terrible warm water fisherman...if we had mid 70s water temps, I'd be fine...but this is 10° over what I was expecting...add the pea soup clarity, and I'm way off my game...

I like clear, cold water...I may get grumpy... ????

Thanks - I've not fished them a bunch.

I have one rod I can dedicate to that set-up, I'll have it set up tomorrow, ready to go.

I realize my specifics aren't specific at all. That's just the Ned. Anywhere bass are located, there's nothing special you have to do. People use it as a last resort. The past month, I've used it as my start and kept using it because it works. Check out the Fishing Report forum and the Latest Catch thread. Big Smallies, big Larries, it don't matter. It catches them all, catches the dinks,catches the bigs; it just catches them. The inspiration for my "has bass fishing become expensive and complicated for no reason" thread. There are some techniques that just "do it" but we dedicate 12 setups to other things any ways.

Further North reply :

On 8/15/2018 at 7:57 AM, Glaucus said:

There are some techniques that just "do it" but we dedicate 12 setups to other things any ways.

That's funny...

I have three "confidence" baits:

Smokin' Rooster, T-rigged with a 1/4 oz. wt. over a 30# tied-in wire leader (so the sliding weight still works)
Senko. T-rigged or Wacky...doesn't matter.
#5 Mepps. Color may vary, but it'll find fish.

...and I've got at least another 12 set-ups dedicated to other things*.

Why the weird mix? Teeth first, bass 2nd...most days...

*In Canada, I've a 4th confidence bait: Dr. Spoon. Colors my vary, but red and white dominates, most years.

soflabasser reply :

Sounds like a good time to try topwater fishing at night time.

Further North reply :

On 8/15/2018 at 8:08 AM, soflabasser said:

Sounds like a good time to try topwater fishing at night time.

Hard to say...I don't like night fishing...it's skeeter city in these parts (days don't have a lot of bugs) and I really don't like running across flowages that are part of river systems up here at night.

I'm sure our skeeters are nothing like yours...but I've got a really low tolerance and most years I don't have to deal with them more than a couple times.

Brew City Bass reply :

I've been dealing with the same crap down here near Milwaukee. One of my favorite lakes is more stained than it's ever been and the water temp just hit 81* today. I went out this AM for 4 hours and only got 3 bass. One on a spinnerbait, one a whopper plopper, and one on a frog. I couldn't find a pattern so I just started junk fishing.

Wind was nowhere to be found and not a cloud in the sky. It's been rough. Thankfully, night fishing has been rather productive this summer.

burrows reply :

TRD

Further North reply :

On 8/15/2018 at 10:27 AM, Burrows said:

TRD

Toyota Racing Development? ????

Further North reply :

On 8/15/2018 at 9:08 AM, Brew City Bass said:

I've been dealing with the same crap down here near Milwaukee. One of my favorite lakes is more stained than it's ever been and the water temp just hit 81* today. I went out this AM for 4 hours and only got 3 bass. One on a spinnerbait, one a whopper plopper, and one on a frog. I couldn't find a pattern so I just started junk fishing.

Wind was nowhere to be found and not a cloud in the sky. It's been rough. Thankfully, night fishing has been rather productive this summer.

My fishing partner for the trip is from Racine...he's been dealing with the same stuff.

That you guys don't have very many lakes in your part of the state isn't helping his attitude...

I grew up down there (Elkhorn/Lauderdale Lakes) and on my few trips back just one look at the scarcity of fishable water, and the number of boats on it...I'm never sorry to head back home...

There are hundreds of lakes in the county I live in now...

Brew City Bass reply :

On 8/15/2018 at 10:53 AM, Further North said:

My fishing partner for the trip is from Racine...he's been dealing with the same stuff.

That you guys don't have very many lakes in your part of the state isn't helping his attitude...

I grew up down there (Elkhorn/Lauderdale Lakes) and on my few trips back just one look at the scarcity of fishable water, and the number of boats on it...I'm never sorry to head back home...

There are hundreds of lakes in the county I live in now...

Well, it isn't terribly bad. I do have 3-4 crystal clear lakes that are spring fed within 20 minutes of me. I'm talking 20ft visibility most days. Added bonus is that they're fairly small with very few trailer parking spots. This means on weekdays I am usually the only one on the lake. One of those lakes got me two PB bass this summer. Another one is a pretty great smallie fishery that has yielded me two 5lbers this summer and more 3-4s than I can count. Plenty of walleye in that lake as well. The rest of the bigger lakes are dammed up use to be rivers. Those I try to avoid this time of year. Fishing in stained hot water isn't my strong point.

Sadly, you are right about crowded waters. I can put up with it because when the weather is like this, I become nocturnal and start fishing at night. Usually am the only one on the water then and the fish really turn on. During the hot months, the residents seem to become a problem. Tons of people with the "I own the lake" attitude. I've had tons confrontations with owners driving over my lines, cutting between me and the shore when there is literally 10 yards leeway, or just trying to send massive wakes my way. I don't take much crap when it comes to that. I usually start off with chucking a 1oz jig at their boat and see how far they want to take it. Usually never goes further than them swinging around, yelling from a distance when they realize I'm ready to rip their head off. I did let the anger get the best of me once this year and chased a guy who almost clipped me when I was trolling the shore. I pulled up the trolling motor and chased him back to his dock, got off the boat and told him to throw em up. Then I saw his wife and kids and reality hit me that it was just dumb to try and fight someone like that. Nothing to gain, everything to lose. I just hate it when people put me or my family in danger.

soflabasser reply :

On 8/15/2018 at 8:24 AM, Further North said:

Hard to say...I don't like night fishing...it's skeeter city in these parts (days don't have a lot of bugs) and I really don't like running across flowages that are part of river systems up here at night.

I'm sure our skeeters are nothing like yours...but I've got a really low tolerance ans most years I don't have to deal with them more than a couple times.

We have lots of mosquitoes in South Florida along with alligators, pythons,cottonmouths, black widow spiders,etc. I fish at least 10 feet away from the bank,near a source of light, and only fish for a few hours to be safe. It's been worth it to me since I have caught dozens and dozens of big bass at night time. I also don't like the +90 degree intense sauna like heat (unless I am diving) that South Florida has during the Summer so I prefer fishing lowlight conditions than dealing with the day heat.

Further North reply :

On 8/15/2018 at 11:47 AM, soflabasser said:

We have lots of mosquitoes in South Florida along with alligators, pythons,etc. I fish at least 10 feet away from the bank,near a source of light, and only fish for a few hours to be safe. It's been worth it to me since I have caught dozens and dozens of big bass at nighttime. I also don't like the +90 degree intense sauna like heat that South Florida has so I prefer fishing lowlight conditions than dealing with the day heat.

Yup, different worlds. I was down your way in June, once...the skeeters drove me nuts. Not sure if I could adjust or not.

...On the other hand...you can fish in January...when all we can do is jump up and down on the ice...

Brew City Bass reply :

On 8/15/2018 at 11:47 AM, soflabasser said:

We have lots of mosquitoes in South Florida along with alligators, pythons,cottonmouths, black widow spiders,etc. I fish at least 10 feet away from the bank,near a source of light, and only fish for a few hours to be safe. It's been worth it to me since I have caught dozens and dozens of big bass at night time. I also don't like the +90 degree intense sauna like heat (unless I am diving) that South Florida has during the Summer so I prefer fishing lowlight conditions than dealing with the day heat.

This is one thing that I've always felt blessed about living in the north. Nothing tries to kill us up here. I mean, we have rattle snakes and brown recluses, but in my 23 years on this earth, I've only ever seen one rattler in my state and they seem to stay out of the lakes. If I had to deal with cottonmouths, widows, gators, and everything else you guys have, I'd probably never fish at night!

On 8/15/2018 at 12:13 PM, Further North said:

Yup, different worlds. I was down your way in June, once...the skeeters drove me nuts. Not sure if I could adjust or not.

...On the other hand...you can fish in January...when all we can do is jump up and down on the ice...

This is the first year I am gonna try and give ice fishing a really good shot. I about went nuts last winter being all cooped up with no fishing. I've ice fished before, but never seriously. I am gonna get a gas auger, ice sonar set up and a decent shanty and see how it goes. It's gotta be better than not fishing at all.

Further North reply :

On 8/15/2018 at 12:14 PM, Brew City Bass said:

This is one thing that I've always felt blessed about living in the north. Nothing tries to kill us up here. I mean, we have rattle snakes and brown recluses, but in my 23 years on this earth, I've only ever seen one rattler in my state and they seem to stay out of the lakes. If I had to deal with cottonmouths, widows, gators, and everything else you guys have, I'd probably never fish at night!

Yep, the bears and wolves pretty much leave people alone...our biggest worry is really Lyme disease from ticks.

...and the fact that we can't seem to put out repeat offender drunk drivers in jail...

On 8/15/2018 at 12:14 PM, Brew City Bass said:

This is the first year I am gonna try and give ice fishing a really good shot. I about went nuts last winter being all cooped up with no fishing. I've ice fished before, but never seriously. I am gonna get a gas auger, ice sonar set up and a decent shanty and see how it goes. It's gotta be better than not fishing at all.

I'm not wired for ice fishing...too much sitting...but then I can't learn to enjoy jigging for walleyes, or trolling for any kind of fish either...

Duck hunting, deer hunting, turkey hunting...any of those sit-and-wait type of activities are just things I can't get accustomed to. In the fall, I'll chase grouse and pheasant, and once it snows there's cross country skiing and stuff...there's ways for me to stay busy.

Brew City Bass reply :

On 8/15/2018 at 12:17 PM, Further North said:

Yep, the bears and wolves pretty much leave people alone...our biggest worry is really Lyme disease from ticks.

...and the fact that we can't seem to put out repeat offender drunk drivers in jail...

My God, we practically promote drunk driving here! I went to court last summer for a traffic ticket and the guy before me was in for his 4th DUI. He got let off basically with just paying the fine. He might have had his license suspended for a month or so. It's absolutely nuts. Of course, the judge gave me the third degree for going 10mph over and didn't knock off any points. What a joke.

It's all a cash grab. If we keep them on the roads, it's an easy $5,000-$10,000 in their pockets and they love repeat offenders. My cousin got drunk last fall and drove into a tree killing himself. Luckily no one else was involved. At his funeral, my moms side of the family had the audacity to get drunk in the parking lot and drive home. Absolute horsecrap. These people treat drinking as a lifestyle.

soflabasser reply :

On 8/15/2018 at 12:13 PM, Further North said:

Yup, different worlds. I was down your way in June, once...the skeeters drove me nuts. Not sure if I could adjust or not.

...On the other hand...you can fish in January...when all we can do is jump up and down on the ice...

What did you fish for when you where here in June and what did you catch? I wear long sleeve clothes+ bug spray in areas with lots of mosquitoes and seems to do well. January is a excellent month for targeting big bass as well as many other fish.

On 8/15/2018 at 12:14 PM, Brew City Bass said:

This is one thing that I've always felt blessed about living in the north. Nothing tries to kill us up here. I mean, we have rattle snakes and brown recluses, but in my 23 years on this earth, I've only ever seen one rattler in my state and they seem to stay out of the lakes. If I had to deal with cottonmouths, widows, gators, and everything else you guys have, I'd probably never fish at night!

This is the first year I am gonna try and give ice fishing a really good shot. I about went nuts last winter being all cooped up with no fishing. I've ice fished before, but never seriously. I am gonna get a gas auger, ice sonar set up and a decent shanty and see how it goes. It's gotta be better than not fishing at all.

You can't do any good diving in your state and that's a huge negative for me since diving is my favorite sport to practice (even more than bass fishing).The winters are quite brutal up north and snow+wind+trees with no leaves+gloomy skies is something I don't like. I would like to try ice fishing in one of my vacations but I have a feeling it's not as fun as fishing in warm weather. Our winters are very nice and that's when bass fishing and many other types of fishing is best in South Florida. You guys do have muskie which is one of my favorite freshwater fish so I do plan on making more trips up north for muskie fishing and to add new species of fish to my list.

Brew City Bass reply :

On 8/15/2018 at 6:41 PM, soflabasser said:

What did you fish for when you where here in June and what did you catch? I wear long sleeve clothes+ bug spray in areas with lots of mosquitoes and seems to do well. January is a excellent month for targeting big bass as well as many other fish.

You can't do any good diving in your state and that's a huge negative for me since diving is my favorite sport to practice (even more than bass fishing).The winters are quite brutal up north and snow+wind+trees with no leaves+gloomy skies is something I don't like. I would like to try ice fishing in one of my vacations but I have a feeling it's not as fun as fishing in warm weather. Our winters are very nice and that's when bass fishing and many other types of fishing is best in South Florida. You guys do have muskie which is one of my favorite freshwater fish so I do plan on making more trips up north for muskie fishing and to add new species of fish to my list.

I find winter beautiful in it's own right. My state is covered in snow mostly before Christmas and well into spring. It sucks to shovel, yeah, but it's pretty and I enjoy skiing so it's a positive for me. Sadly, we lack mountains

I've never dove really, so I wouldn't have any idea what a good diving spot is. I have a few friends who dive here and they have some quarries and lakes they go to every week. I am sure Florida is way better, though.

Muskie, we do have em. They're called the fish of 10,000 casts for a reason though. I don't ever really target them, but I got two 45+ inchers to the boat last summer throwing spoons. They're cool, but so fragile. Most people stop fishing for them when the water temps get above 75* around here. I prefer fishing for northern most of the time if I am gonna target things other than bass. I feel they fight better and they can get just as big. Just a lot more of them around.

scaleface reply :

Well the very first thing I would do is look at my depth finder for a thermocline and a depth that is holding lots of fish . Then if I can find a nice point or two , fish them at those depths . If that doesnt work , move shallow and fish cover .

r83srock reply :

On 8/15/2018 at 8:25 PM, scaleface said:

Well the very first thing I would do is look at my depth finder for a thermocline and a depth that is holding lots of fish . Then if I can find a nice point or two , fish them at those depths . If that doesnt work , move shallow and fish cover .

I agree with this.

AO2point4 reply :

I fished very similar conditions the other day on the Willow Flowage, a couple hours east of where you are. Only technique that produced strikes was a frog in shallow water. Hopefully you have better luck than I did.

thinkingredneck reply :

At first I thought you were describing my home water.LOL. In the South, LMB fishing goes well in muddy water. T rigged plastics, fished slowly near structure and cover (wood and weeds/pads). Or a jig. Dark colors with glitter. I do best with trick worms or U vibe worms in Candy bug, Junebug, or other dark colors. Black and blue jigs. Hop and soak and slowly drag, twitch, etc. Repeat. If there is wind, I have good luck with spinner baits. If it is calm, try top water.

I agree, they need to toughen the laws on drinking and driving. Also texting.

7905

High water temps, bright sun, little wind, stained water. 2024

related Fishing Tackle topic

previous topic

next topic

most viewed Fishing Tackle topic