Scientific Thermocline (lots of pics)

[Bfish]

SpurHunter - 8/25/2010 9:03 AM
...I realize scaley fish relate to the thermocline, but do you know how catfish relate?

Generally the fish are relating to the DO which just happens to often coincide near the thermocline. Cats can tolerate lower DO levels (slightly) than say bass, however they generally will relate to the DO saturation curve at nearly the same level as bass. However, IME, they relate more strongly to their food source than DO levels. ie if they are feeding on a surface shad, they will be shallower than the thermocline, while if they are feeding on say blueback herring which like to hang out just above the drop in DO near the thermocline, then the catfish will be found there. Unlike like say largemouth who will often hang out down deep, even when hungry.

 

[polo-dog]

Thanks for the time and info you put into this post. I like the scientific aspects of fishing too. There are so many places that people fish that just don't have fish anywhere near them! The better I get at understanding what's happening under the surface the better I get at catching, that's for sure. I don't have a side imager year but you really don't need one to find the fish when they are deep. Most depthfinders will give you info when the sensitivity is set right that will show the level of the thermocline. Chickamauga does have a thermocline right now and on the main lake it's somewhere around 20-25 feet. There is no thermocline right now in WT creek in the area where I live because the channel is only 14-15 feet deep. I went to the bottom a few days ago and there was no cold water in the creek where just a few weeks ago there still was some cool water on the bottom in the creek channel. Thanks again for your effort to teach CFFers about why fish are where they are.

 

[Doug V]

This isn't a Thermocline but is a comfort zone for some winter fish. Notice Water Temp 35 Degrees and how the 25' Depth seem to be a cline for the Fish and Baitfish...It's their winter comfort zone.

 

[mmarcum6]

I'm no expert with my 898 but have learned a lot from Mike's posts. I have also spent quite a bit of time just studying the areas I fish. I fish Chicamauga primarily which doesn't really develop a thermocline and have watched the fish suspend quite often and even move from one depth to another over the period of a few hours. I'm assuming that this would most likely be due to a change in barometric pressure then anything else. I guess it is time to invest in a barometer and try and figure out the correlation with pressure to depth. Have I made a correct assumption or just thinking to hard?

 

[Doug V]

Humminbird Weathersense Accessories with add barometric pressure readings direct that you can display on the unit and also watch trends in pressure changes for the last 12 hours and also has settable alarms to notify you when pressures change.

Here's Link to Web Info: http://store.humminbird.com/products/322976/AS_BP