Anyone Use A pH Meter?

[Tugaloo]

I was reading today about using a pH meter to find what depth the fish are at. It says to test the pH every foot until you find where there is the greatest changing from one foot to the next. Like 7.2 at 15 feet and 7.4 at 16 feet. Then it says to fish structure at 15 feet because that's where the fish are going to be. Has anyone tried this? Does it work?

I see that BPS has one for $24.99. That sounds reasonable if it really works?

What say you (all).

Tugaloo

[Moose1am]

I have used pH meters ever since my college days. I have one that is a small test meter that I use to measure the surface water pH and to measure the pH of the water out of the faucet before I add it to my aquarium. I add chemicals to my tap water to change the pH to 7.0. I use baking soda and or other chemicals to control certain nitrate levels in my aquarium.

The pH meter you are talking about for only 24 bucks can't be very good. Even the small hand held meters cost around $100 bucks. To get a pH meter with a long cable 25ft or more would also cost more than 25 bucks I would thing. pH meters must be calibrated from time to time. To calibrate a pH meter you need to have standard solutions of known pH. pH 4.0, pH 7.0 and pH 10.0 are the most common solutions used to calibrate a pH meter. You must set the slope of the meter's response in the range that you will be conducting the tests.

I would imagine that a cheaper pH meter may give you some information on the changing pH levels with depth or in different parts of the lake. But pH is just one of the variables that has to do with water quality and where the fish will be. pH of the water changes hourly as life process are in action. Plants giving off Oxygen during the day will effect the water's pH levels. Plants take up CO2 during the day and CO2 in the water forms carbonic acid which make the water's pH drop. CO2 plus H2O forms carbonic acid. As the day turns to night the plants stop giving off oxygen and start to respire and then they take up O2 and give off CO2. During the day they take up CO2 and give off O2 as conduct photosynthesis. The pH of the water is changing as the levels of CO2 gas in the the water changes during a 24 hour peroid. Certain minerals in the water such as sulfur compounds can turn the water acidic and the present of calcium carbonate minerals can make the water basic. pH of 10 is on the basic side and a pH of 4 is on the acidic side and pH of 7.0 is neutral neighter basic or acidic. pH is the log of base ten changes in the acid hydronium concentration in the water. A ph change from 7.0 to 8.0 is ten time more acidic and a change from 7.0 to 9.0 is 100 times more acidic.

Where at on the BPS catalog did you see that ph Meter.

I would rather have a temperature gauge that could be lowerd down to about 50ft that had a DO meter on it.. But one does not really need a DO meter or a pH meter to tell where the fish are going to be. You can easily see a thermocline on most modern depth sounders and during the hot summer months there won't be many game fish below the thermocline. And you can fish the weed during the day or night and find fish along the edge of a weedline or even back up into the weeds at other times.

Waters that are clear may have wider pH changes as there will be more submergent weed growths due to light being able to reach deeper into the water column.

I was reading today about using a pH meter to find what depth the fish are at. It says to test the pH every foot until you find where there is the greatest changing from one foot to the next. Like 7.2 at 15 feet and 7.4 at 16 feet. Then it says to fish structure at 15 feet because that's where the fish are going to be. Has anyone tried this? Does it work?

I see that BPS has one for $24.99. That sounds reasonable if it really works?

What say you (all).

Tugaloo

[Tugaloo]

Moose, try this link:

http://www.basspro.com/servlet/catalog.SearchResults

If that doesn't do it, then just go to BPS & in the little Search block, type in "pH Meter" and it will only find 1 results. But there is something wrong with their link, because it won't let me go to the next level to find out the details about this thing.

Tugaloo

[kunes]

OR--ya could tightline a bunch of minnows at different depths and see which ones get bit.

[Tugaloo]

OK Moose, I tried my link & it doesn't work. You can try the search & see what you get. It's a Mossy Oak - Biologic pH Meter. I think its the same brand the guy in the book was talking about. The book is out in my pickup or I'd check it to be sure. The book was my companion over lunch today.

Tugaloo