Your Noggin is your fish finder.

Here's a power recipe for winners:

?The local weather is the core of building the day. Look at it as a blueprint that may have to be changed as the day goes along.?Then again, it could very well be a Treasure Map; more on this later. Your lake map spread on the Kitchen Table the night before your outing, the time you spend here before your day on the lake, will take on new meaning for you.

?Start a Weather Log to include 3-5 days before your outing. Include wind,

rain, warm or cold fronts speed and direction of movement, etc. ?Keep in mind that the location of your lake North to South/ East to West/ Higher Elevation to Lower, can have specifics related to same that other lakes do not. An example of this can be if your lake is in the northern half of the country your weather will “normally” come out of the West/Northwest, and Southwest. In the lower half of the country the weather (again “normally”) comes out of the South/Southwest.

?Yes, there will be variances to these normal and seasonal weather paths, but on average they will apply as stated. The direction of the weather will provide you with a key to what part(s) of your lake - the lay of the land, the lake bottom contours - will receive and deal with that weather most often; After reading further in this write up about water dynamics, species habits, flora specifics, lake basin make up, what parts of the lake will receive the most warmth of the Sun, what the lake basin is composed of at any particular spot, dissolved oxygen content, and so on, those factors can tell you the more productive parts of water to explore for greater success.

?Thermocline, Oxycline, other Cline Set-Up, interaction, and Turnover:

?(A short version.)

?A thermocline is a part of a lake’s summer water stratification. There are normally three layers to the total stratification. These layers of water are called:

?? Epilimnion

? Metalimnion

? Hypolimnion

??A thermocline usually sets up horizontally in the middle layer and is part of a stratum of water with greater practical stability than any other part of the lake.

?The set up and depth of the thermocline (if any) can be shallower or deeper, sooner or later in the season, and long lived or not as long lived depending in part on:

?·???????Bait Color (s)

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? Force of the wind and water current action and for how long

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·???????Depth and Spot Triangulation

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? Draw down and flooding situations?

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? Temperature and volume of water in each stratified layer

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·???????What time of year

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? Water clarity

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·???????Dissolved Oxygen content of water at what depth

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? Direction, duration, and angle of the Sun’s Rays

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? Lake basin formation and ingredients of the bottom

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Putting it all together !

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These things and their interplay will tell us a lot about what is going on there.?

?Cold water sinks because it’s more dense and heavier than warm water. Deeper water is under a great deal more pressure - PSI (pounds per square Inch) - than the warmer water above it.?Anything under pressure wants to escape that pressure if it can. When the shallow water temperature decreases to a point where it no longer has an offsetting factor –holding power -?to the water volume part of the equation, the shallower but larger volume of water gains weight so to speak, and pushes downward (gravity), mixing rapidly with whatever is beneath it. At that point, all layers would then be of equal temperature, density, and viscosity – the fall turnover once again. ?

?The steeper, narrower, and less wind directed the part of the lakes basin, the shallower, the thermocline will set up, and sooner and the faster the Fall Turnover will occur there. The exception to this entry is stained water. While the thermocline will set up shallower in stained water, the heat retention quality of such water will make the time till turnover longer. In some cases, thermoclines do not set up at all. These cases are depth and current related, along with the interplay of the other factors mentioned above to one degree or another.?

?Warm water holds less dissolved oxygen than cold water. However, the deeper we figuratively consider the water column the more Dissolved Oxygen dissipates. Aside from dead and rotting veggie and animal material consuming any oxygen found deep, wind and wave causing oxygen can’t mix deep, colder water is more dense and viscous; acting as a barrier, and deep-water pressure squeezes oxygen molecules toward the path of least resistance. All of these actions develop an oxycline just as real and attractive as the ways and means of approaching the thermocline. Other clines such as pH, light penetration, algae-clines, etc., react similarly relative to hydrodynamics, and thermodynamics and they can move.

?The traditional “Turnover” is a seasonal condition, usually late Fall of the year, where due to colder temperatures setting in from above, the distinctive temperature layered segments of the water column upset each other; thereby mixing all water equally. You will learn later in this material that the Fall “turnover” does not occur all over the lake at the same time. Stratification and turnovers may not happen at all in some lakes and some parts of lakes are continually stable year-round. You will learn that the mixing process creates dissolved oxygen levels in some areas deeper and more uniform than before the buildup or breakdown of water stratification.

?The turnovers characterize a change in the lives of fish. All fish are affected. When Fall surface water cools to near that of the layer below it the rapid turnover occurs. Plankton are befuddled with rising bottom nutrients; food sources become more spread out and confused with non-food items. Little fish groups scatter, and the big ones are turned off for a time. Fish slow down because of the uniform colder water temperature. But, they won't leave their own kind. As with some other unfavorable changes, fish tend to roam more to get more of what they need and to find something that suits their needs. What amount of time does it takes for stabilization to set in? Watch the weather. If the weather is stable for several days just after the turnover, the chances of stabilization are greater and shorter in transition. Spring turnover is a more gradual layering of water from the surface down and is longer in transition. The lake water comes to life in the spring and it puts into motion all that is essential to propagation; leading to the good times of summer; a time of plenty.

?If I were trying to find fish during Fall or Spring turnover I would start at the effective light penetration depth level for your lake and move shallower from there. Say twice as deep as the mid lake facing weed growth for your lake for example. Follow what bait may be present first, and see if it relates to conventional structure and any underwater current. Look for areas that approximate holding bins, deeper sharper drop-offs adjacent to traditional spawning areas. Fish don't go un-stabilized for long. Sooner rather than later they will end up in these areas. While there are smaller areas that are defined contrary to the rule, for greatest consistency, go for the side of the lake that is shallower than the other and look for areas that receive the most winter time sunshine. Sometimes you can't find these ingredients together in big spots. But, do the best you can with what you have or fish another lake that has what you need. Then, you can always ask the Ice Fisherman and bait shops that cater to them, where their historically good spots are. The turnover Bass won't be far away from those spots before it ices up, and they definably will be there just before spawning.?

?Another Note on Stabilization:

?Water entering the lake through creeks or underwater springs represents stabilization. This water is not affected by the turnover. In many ways, this water is a flowing river or stream, it is often somewhat warmer, and has greater oxygen content for some distance into the lake. Underwater springs don’t have too much – on the spot - oxygen in and of themselves. But, if shallow enough (under 30 feet) and if the flow is strong enough to mix the adjoining water, pulling surface water down around the edges, oxygen mix is created in the process. These areas have a - more or less constant stabilization all of their own.?Then too we must include algae and weed growth in the big picture.?