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Posts: 1516
| Water temps this afternoon were 81. Expect a brief cold front and rain tomorrow so likely temps will be 77 or 78 early in the am. I'm not sure this makes a difference but when will it be ok? How long should temps be under 80 before its "safe " for the fish? |
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Posts: 400
Location: Metro | What are people looking at for water temps on lake Minnetonka? |
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Location: Contrarian Island | surface temp is not what people need to be looking at imo...by this time in the summer, what kills fish imo is when the water we release them back into, the 10 to 15 to 20 foot depths are 77+ ...which it is on many lakes right now... stay off the lakes and give em a rest.
Edited by BNelson 8/9/2016 11:04 AM
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Posts: 20277
Location: oswego, il | The surface temp on Lake Michigan was 77. |
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Location: Contrarian Island | surface temp doesn't kill fish ..it's the hot water they swim back down to. |
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| Run a 100 yard dash dragging 50lbs of weight in 90 degree humid temps. At the finish line, hold your breath for a minute. Then , take a few breaths and recover at the camp fire. Feels great dont it? |
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Posts: 20277
Location: oswego, il | BNelson - 8/9/2016 11:47 AM
surface temp doesn't kill fish ..it's the hot water they swim back down to.
Agree just making the point lake michigan surface temp is 77 even in 200 feet. Has to be very warm on inland lakes. |
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Location: Northern Wisconsin | Found a dead 48 incher in N WI this morning. Seemed healthy but it was recently caught. Water temps 77-78 this morning when it was overcast. Not the time to be targeting muskies IMO. |
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Location: Contrarian Island | lots of fish being caught in Madison last couple weeks... I get a kick out of guys out on the lake that say it's always 77-79...magically their water temp sensors never go above 80... our Madison league has not fished since early July because we feel it is too hot and irresponsible to fish but from the looks of the Muskies Inc log many locals don't share that sentiment.
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Location: Northern Wisconsin | I can understand the guy who is up for a vacation and only gets one week a year to fish for them.. What bothers me are the locals and guides who live up here and keep fishing for them on shallow, stained bodies of water. Temps have been around 80 the last 2-3 weeks. In the morning it may be 77 but a 3 degree drop overnight doesn't magically increase he DO levels. The dead 48" I found I know for a fact was caught very recently and would bet water temps played a role in its mortality. |
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Posts: 611
| This is a great topic! I was under the impression that if the surface temp was below 80F at sunrise you could feel that you were fishing ethically. I realize that fish can die in the upper 70F but 80F is what I was taught to be the cutoff. Obviously fish can die in any water temp if they are badly hooked and that is just the reality of muskie fishing. I think more research should be done on this topic. The great minds in the muskie world such as Marc Thorpe and others along with biologist could really set the standard for "safe" muskie fishing with regards to water temperature.
Edited by muddymusky 8/11/2016 2:11 PM
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Location: minocqua, wi. | got messages for 3 different people today asking me why there are dead ciscoes on the Minocqua Chain ... |
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Posts: 1120
Location: West Chester, OH | Judging from the phone call I got this AM, they may be drowning!  |
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Location: Contrarian Island | what are water temps in Indiana? must be boiling...hmmmm and where do I get an Indiana bump board? |
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Posts: 470
| BNelson - 8/12/2016 8:24 AM
what are water temps in Indiana? must be boiling...hmmmm and where do I get an Indiana bump board? ;)
They were averaging 85-87F During the day last weekend, even with the overnight lows in the upper 50's. Morning temps were around 83F. Weird to be cold until I got out on the lake...
I gave up on fishing bass after I had a little Muskie grab a rubber worm. Definitely stressed on the release.
HTH,
RandalB |
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Posts: 77
| at least 90  |
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Posts: 267
| A friend found an almost dead 51" muskie on Lake Alexander along his shoreline around July 25 after that first real hot stretch of 90 degree weather.
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Posts: 267
| We have been measuring oxygen/temperature profiles on our area cisco lakes and warm temps are going down very deep this year. We have seen some die-offs in central MN. Ciscoes are being squeezed big time in some lakes. |
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Posts: 7109
Location: Northwest Chicago Burbs | Might be time to start a thread "what do you do when its too warm to fish for muskies!!??" Good poll topic?
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Posts: 400
Location: Metro | Yes^^ |
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Posts: 3163
| I'm addicted to collecting custom turkey calls,,the water needs to cool down this is getting expensive  |
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Posts: 116
| Gave it up around Madison now for a month. Not looking good for a couple more weeks. |
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Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | 74 degrees in 15' of water on Squirrel in N WI this afternoon. Surface was 76. Mid 50's tonight, that will help some. |
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Location: Seymour, WI | I know there was a lot of rain in N. WI on Fri night, hopefully that helped cool the lakes down some. |
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Location: Contrarian Island | we postponed the tuesday night league in Madison again for this week...temps are borderline and it's not worth it... we will fish them when we are certain we aren't harming any fish.... |
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Posts: 10
| It's dissolved oxygen that matters to the fish, not as much the temperature. This time of year always has the worst oxygen levels. You are probably OK to fish them at upper 70's, but measure and release the fish without pulling it from the water. Also safer to fish after rain or on a windy day. |
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Posts: 2893
Location: Yahara River Chain | Someone asked "I think more research should be done on this topic. The great minds in the muskie world such as Marc Thorpe and others along with biologist could really set the standard for "safe" muskie fishing with regards to water temperature."
You will never get a hard answer to that question due to too many variables and that includes handling, water quality, fish size, etc. Right now 80 is the obvious line. but even that many say it should be lower. |
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Posts: 611
| muskie! nut - 8/15/2016 10:03 PM
Someone asked "I think more research should be done on this topic. The great minds in the muskie world such as Marc Thorpe and others along with biologist could really set the standard for "safe" muskie fishing with regards to water temperature."
You will never get a hard answer to that question due to too many variables and that includes handling, water quality, fish size, etc. Right now 80 is the obvious line. but even that many say it should be lower.
I appreciate and respect your opinion however, I still believe that we can get a straight answer for those of us that want to be as ethical as possible. Maybe it is a tool that none of us own yet and can be developed that measures temperature and dissolved oxygen. Or, maybe it is a fish tank that we can use to revive fish before we release them, much like they do on St. Clair. I believe that more can be done and there are a lot of smart muskie fisherman and biologists that can lead the way to get this done. Getting them together and getting ideas down will go a long way on setting the "standard". The "standard" can be developed and can continue to be modified as more information is available. Hope so, but until then, I will continue to use 80F at sunrise my guide. I don't want to kill fish but then again I am putting giant hooks in their face... |
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Posts: 21
| I don't believe there is ever going to be a hard answer to this question, and if there was one, there is always going to be people who disagree, or think they are the exception. I have fished muskies for quite a few years, and like many things in life, common sense goes a long way. You will always encounter people without any, but using what you have to determine your actions on and off the water can go a long way. While I do use the 80 degree mark as a general rule, one can tell from past experience or current, how those fish are acting during release, leading up to the eighty degree mark in the spring and just below the 80 degree mark in the fall. There is a big difference between 79 degrees in early spring and 79 in early September, I don't need more research to tell me that. I want to get out and fish as much as the next guy, but can also admit to myself that because the water temps dropped a degree over night doesn't make it a good decision or at least the right one for me. |
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Posts: 444
| Whats everyone think about the Star Tribune article Steve posted in the weekly news post?
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