Water Temperature

[Jan-Harm]

Hello Gents,

What is the ideal water temperature for Bass? A friend of mine went to Mokolo over the weekend and caught basically nothing. He said according to the fish finder the water temp at certain areas where 30 degrees C. Obviously that is at the surface.

What should be the best way to target Bass in these conditions?

 

 

[Monster]

Hey Jan

Ek dink die ander ouens kan jou beter se maar so ver ek weet is dit tussen 18 en 24 grade vir bass. By hoer temp is die oplosbaarheid van suurstof in die water laer en die vis gaan soek laer temp in dieper water. So ek neem aan dis maar die selfde as wat in die winter gebeur die bass is diep en doen alles stadig want daar is nie genoeg suurstof in die water vir speel nie. Is daar iemand anders wat 'n beter idee het.

 

[CarloT]

I heard bass feed most actively at 22 degrees c

 

[Sonix]

Was researching this last night on the web ...
Most temeratures were given in F, so had to convert it every time ...
My findings are as follows:
80F (26C) is the magic temp for bass ...that was prooven scientifically ... at this temperature, the bass is eating and growing the fastest ...
Many believe that anything above 28C is a waste of time.
Also they say that at temperatures lower than 10C, bass will stop eating (almost like going into hibernation).
The problem is that one is suppose to be able to measure the temperature at different depths, cause with a surface temp of 29C, the bass might be laying at the level, where the water reaches 26C ...
As a general rule from now on, I'll be targeting water between 20C and 26C ... I guess that should be fine ..
I'm actually going to test the water of the Technopark dams in Centurion this afternoon .. people say that bass fishing there is slooooow at the moment, cause the water temp is WAAaaayyy to high ....so I want to test it ...only problem is that I can only test a max depth of 1m ...

Apparently, the modern bass boats, has got electronics that can measure temp at different levels, oxygen level of the water, as well as light penetration!! ...no wonder those guys pulls all the nice bass!!

 

[bjornh]

yeah well my logbook can verify all the above EXCEPT that by 'stop eating' we mean that they feed only as much as is needed to survive and they don't stop feeding altogether. My boss caught a bass on topwater in the dead of winter in the US...snow and all. Water temps between 22 and 26 provide hectic fishing if the barometer is favourable. Having said that...generally, when water temps are 17degs and below the bass at Inanda take on a definite winter pattern and we have a few spots where we'd catch a limit in 5 minutes flat...in essence the depth they sit at (up to 19m) in cooler waters is more stable and they adjust accordingly and feed actively once again

it gets quite technical beyond this. just when you think you've figured it all out one inevitably notices something that goes against the grain..and that's why fishing will and could never be stale and boring

tight lines guys,
BjoRn

 

[Sonix]

Went to Technopark this afternoon ...the water temperature is 23C !! ....now I'm confused ... in my book that should be PERFECT water for active feeding bass???? .... UNLESS, the water cooled down after last night's thunder storm ... it's a VERRY small dam, so thunderstorm can make a HUGE difference I guess ...

 

[Sonix]

Found this little table on the net last night ....just for info

[align=center]WHICH LURES WORK BEST?[/align] [align=center]Water Temperature (C.): 7 degrees[/align] [align=center]Lure Speed: very slow[/align] [align=center]Best Lures: Small spoons, grubs, tubes, plastic worms, jigheads[/align][align=center]-------------------------------------------------------
[/align] [align=center]Water Temperature (C.): 10 degrees[/align] [align=center]Lure Speed: slow[/align] [align=center]Best Lures: Grubs, mini jigs, plastic worms, jigging spoons, tubes, jigheads[/align][align=center]--------------------------------------------------------
[/align] [align=center]Water Temperature (C.): 13 degrees[/align] [align=center]Lure Speed: slow[/align] [align=center]Best Lures: Same as above, plus spinnerbaits, small crankbaits,
slow working topwater baits[/align][align=center]------------------------------------------------------
[/align] [align=center]Water Temperature (C.): 16 degrees[/align] [align=center]Lure Speed: medium[/align] [align=center]Best Lures: Same as above, plus jerkbaits, medium crankbaits[/align][align=center]----------------------------------------------------------
[/align] [align=center]Water Temperature (C.): 19 degrees[/align] [align=center]Lure Speed: medium[/align] [align=center]Best Lures: Topwater plugs, crankbaits, spinnerbaits, plastic worms, jerkbaits, salamanders, jigheads[/align][align=center]----------------------------------------------
[/align] [align=center]Water Temperature (C.): 21 degrees[/align] [align=center]Lure Speed: medium/fast[/align] [align=center]Best Lures: Same as above, plus weedless spoons, buzzbaits,
topwater poppers[/align][align=center]--------------------------------------------------------------
[/align] [align=center]Water Temperature (C.): 24 degrees[/align] [align=center]Lure Speed: fast[/align] [align=center]Best Lures: Topwaters, buzzbaits, large crankbaits, weedless spoons, plastic worms, flutter spoons[/align][align=center]------------------------------------------------------------
[/align] [align=center]Water Temperature (C.): 27 degrees and above[/align] [align=center]Lure Speed: fast[/align] [align=center]Best Lures: Same as above, plus night fishing baits[/align]

 

[Little Green Fish]

24 *C at Roodeplaat is the magic temp (for me at least) and this is my take on it, it all depends on the body of water, meaning the ammount of fresh water that runs through it in a specific timespan, the clarity, the climate in which the piece of water is located, the size of the body of water, depth, physical layout (bays, drop-offs, structure, etc) and then the natural food source, not forgetting the barometer, then there's seasonal patterns and ultimately your technique with each of the baits.

Bass and almost all other disciplines of fishing is just that Fishing not Catching but Fishing.

In short I think that water temp is much more complicated than just reading degrees celcius, and again it differs from dam to dam, to pond to river (we don't have any lakes, those are in the US), so Roodeplaat for me is 24*c MAGIC!
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