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[noobfisher]

Last couple of times I've gone (this weekend) and two weekends ago ... didn't even get a nibble.  Nobody else around were getting any action as well.  How are everyone elses experiences lately in the local lakes?  Have they been fished out or have things just slowed down with the colder temperatures?

[vancook]

combination of both...cold temp equals inactive trout. There are probably some still in there but they're not easy to catch this time of year. Some fish survive over the winter....and some die due to lack of food

[noobfisher]

good to know, thanks for the info

[newsman]

Winter fishing for rainbow is always tuff. Everything in a fishes world is governed by water temperature. Being cold-blooded creatures their metabolism is dead slow at this time of year, which means: slow digestion of food sources, which means slow feeding. it also means low energy and slow movements, which means slow and very soft takes as well.

Solution; fish the warmest part of the day and use a thermometer to find the warmest water in the lake. The warmest water will hold the greatest amount of oxygen and the fish will migrate there.

[noobfisher]

Great info, thanks for sharing your knowledge

[bigblue]

Oh... I thought cold water holds more oxygen than warm water.
I didn't know that.
Thanks for the update.

[Rodney]

Dissolved oxygen concentration increases when water temperature decreases.

[troutbreath]

That graph makes it look like there is more oxygen in the water the colder it gets?

[Nina]

That graph makes it look like there is more oxygen in the water the colder it gets?

Yes, that is what Rodney is saying.

[newsman]

Okay how does that work, when cold water is denser than warm water. Is the condensed oxygen as usable for the fish in their slowed down condtion, as the expanded oxygen in warmer water?

[Danube Boy]

Don't know much but I'll give it a shot. Although it's air and not water, we have a much easier time breathing cold air versus warm air as there is more Oxygen per given volume in cold air. This being the result of the speed of molecules which travel faster in warm air and therefore require more room. In water, dissolved Oxygen experiences the same molecular balancing where faster moving molecules in warm water are more prone to escape the solution in which they are dissolved, creating a higher rate of escape compared to same molecules in cold water. I don't think that fish have more "trouble" extracting Oxygen out of cold Oxygen-rich water, in fact it should take less effort as a smaller volume of cold water processed through the gills should provide same amount of Oxygen as a larger volume of warm water.

[troutbreath]

So in the winter the fish are hyperventilated and too dizzy to bite.

[noobfisher]

So in the winter the fish are hyperventilated and too dizzy to bite.

I can vouch for that lol, I've been spending the last two weekends freezing staring at a fishing bobber lol, gonna head out again when things warm up lol!

[Every Day]

Okay how does that work, when cold water is denser than warm water. Is the condensed oxygen as usable for the fish in their slowed down condtion, as the expanded oxygen in warmer water?

Turnovers mix surface water and deep water, which provides oxygen to colder deeper waters. Colder water holds more oxygen then warm water.
In deep water there is more oxygen because it is not used up as much, except in very productive lakes where the deep water can go anoxic.

I looked at the temp graph of a few faster flowing rivers on the island, and they temp stays basically the same throughout the year.
Even though the temp is always low in the rivers I fish, coho still have no problem chasing a fly down 20-30 feet in the fall.

I guess with certain species it may be possible, but even with Steelhead this year I have hardly ever had my float more than 2 feet from my weights and have had no problem with them hitting my offering in water up to 5 feet deep.