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Hi all.
I am relatively new to targeting crappie specifically, and the lake I fish mostly is Harris. I am curious what the crappie pattern is like in a cooling lake like Harris, where temps are more stable than most of the other lakes I read about. Are they spawning earlier, and changing into summer patterns earlier than other places? Thanks for the vast amount of knowledge you folks share on this board!
Clodhopper
Harris has two lakes, upper and lower. The upper lake is off limits to the public and that cools the reactor. The lower lake isn't affected by the nuclear plant, it's just like any other lake in the area.
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That is true, The main purpose of the lower lake is to provide enough water to flood the reactor if there was a meltdown. What makes Harris more stable than most of the large lakes is it has no major stream feeding it. The level does not change much so the temp. remains more constant from day to day. It does not have hot water discharge like some power plant lakes. It gets cold in winter and hot in summer. It also has low flow which allows thermoclines to set up. Sometimes the fish might want to go deep but can't because there is no oxygen below the thermocline.
Crappie seem to take to brush and structure in Harris where in Jordan the tend to school under shad and not gang up so much in structure. Good rule of thumb....If I catch them here today I won't tomorrow. I love fishing both lakes.
Good point about the thermocline. In a few weeks when it starts getting hot all the fish will be 15 ft or less, makes it a little easier to find them.
Sent from my moto g(6) using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app
Thanks for the helpful replies!