There may some sceince behind it, but its way above my pay scale. Don't complicate it too much, fish when you can, and enjoy it.
Does the ph of a body of water matter? Does it change? What are the effects? Rain, snow, sunlight,,...
I saw on the Springfield news this morning a question on fish. They, the anchors, asked what affects fish more for where they like to be, was it oxygen, water temp or ph. the answer was: ph!
What's up with that for I picked oxygen and I was WRONG!
* is there a thread already on this in here?
There may some sceince behind it, but its way above my pay scale. Don't complicate it too much, fish when you can, and enjoy it.
What is Normal pH?
There is no "normal" pH that applies to all fish. Because fish originate in ponds, rivers, streams, lakes, and oceans that have different pH levels, their needs are different. Saltwater fish prefer an alkaline pH of 8.0 or above. Freshwater fish thrive in a range lower than that, somewhere between 5.5 and 7.5, depending on the specific species.
Keep in mind that pH is not static, it changes over time, in fact it even changes over the course of a single day. Typically it drops at night and rises during the daytime.
pH Level:
Fisherman are aware of thermoclines - horizontal planes with sudden changes in water temperature. There is another type of barrier important to crappie anglers. The pH level affects a fish's ability to absorb oxygen. Fish will be at or above the optimum pH level. For example, an optimum pH level at 10' indicates that active crappie will be above 10' whether the total water depths is 11' or 30'. How do you find the optimum pH level? With a pH meter and probe .. there are several products on the market that will indicate the pH levels of the water at different levels.
(copied from About.com, & from a post by "wilbur")
And if you want to do some light reading : Google .... "pH of Crappie blood" and open the "Crappie Tactics" link (or go to pgs 113-118 at the bottom of the article)
(material is copyright protected, so I just provided a path to the link)
My "skinny" on pH effects : pH affects the Crappie's body chemistry ... correct pH levels allow the fish's blood to absorb oxygen more efficiently ... Crappie tolerate pH levels within the 6.5 - 8 range, but prefer a few tenths above or below 7 ... the depth of water where the pH makes the biggest change is called the "pH-cline", and indicates the most likely depth used by the fish that prefer that pH or pH range ... pH is not as important in flowing waters, as it is in large lakes/reservoirs.
... cp