Thread: measuring water Temp at depth

Welcome to the forum!

I love Madison County Lake, just gets very windy at times in that valley. Best way to measure at depth is with a probe you can drop down into the water. For Crappie I find that a fish finder works better. You look for the schools of bait, them fish just above them. This time of year the fish are all over, but should be starting to stage in the brush piles getting ready to make their move shallow. Once the lake stratifies in May or June everything will be suspended in about 10 to 12 feet of water. That's my favorite time to fish the lake spider rigging.

Welcome to the forum.

Welcome to a great forum .some really great folks on here. Crappie start to move towards spawning grounds when the temp starts climbing into the 50's-60. They say that max spawning temp is 68-72 degrees . most folks go with the surface temps. If you don't have electronics to check temp they make all types of thermometers to check the temp with.

I've found that surface temp and deep water temps are close to the same in the mornings unless there has been a dramatic air temp change overnight. A windy day will rotate the water in a lake in about 8 hrs

Originally Posted by Ditch Basser

Welcome to the forum!

I love Madison County Lake, just gets very windy at times in that valley. Best way to measure at depth is with a probe you can drop down into the water. For Crappie I find that a fish finder works better. You look for the schools of bait, them fish just above them. This time of year the fish are all over, but should be starting to stage in the brush piles getting ready to make their move shallow. Once the lake stratifies in May or June everything will be suspended in about 10 to 12 feet of water. That's my favorite time to fish the lake spider rigging.

I don't want to drag the boat around any longer It's got a fish finder permanently mounted that is too much trouble to remove.

Originally Posted by Wallace Carey

How would I measure the temperature of the water at depth to find where the crappie are most likely to be. This is in a 133 acre lake(Madison County lake) in north central Alabama vary near the Tennessee state line? And what temp am I looking for?


Thanks,
Wallace

For Madison County Lake, right now I'd recommend just using the "bent pole" method. They are catching.

My friends son caught 10 nice ones there yesterday.from the bank fishing brush.

Originally Posted by Ditch Basser

Welcome to the forum!

I love Madison County Lake, just gets very windy at times in that valley. Best way to measure at depth is with a probe you can drop down into the water. For Crappie I find that a fish finder works better. You look for the schools of bait, them fish just above them. This time of year the fish are all over, but should be starting to stage in the brush piles getting ready to make their move shallow. Once the lake stratifies in May or June everything will be suspended in about 10 to 12 feet of water. That's my favorite time to fish the lake spider rigging.

Thanks And your right about the wind there I was out yesterday morning and left at 10am because of the rentless wind. I think my bobber reached 10 knots at times.