threadfin/alewife depth-where catch fish?

question:

Two weekends ago caught stipers 70-78 feet deep.
This weekend caught one at 70' in the main channel about noon.
Talked to a friend that caught some sunday afternoon at 70' by the dam.
Did not see anybody catching fish.

Sunday I was marking a ton of bait and maybe fish from 18' to 35' close to and in the main channel between Beaver and Indian. Pulled up downlines for a bit to 20-45' still did not catch anything but did not fish that depth for more than an hour and a half.

Then I hear a guide saying they were fishing sunday at 20-35 feet and caught nice fish by mid morning. I mean if I was making decisions based on my graph only I would have been fishing 20-35..but having caught fish deeper and deeper as summer progressed could not see how the fish could go from being caught at 78' to 20' in one week. I will add that the shinners did much much better in the shallower depts which I will guess is due to more oxygen in the shallow water. At 70 feet they lasted about 20 minutes. Also cold fronts passed the Friday of each weekend.

Perplexed not about not catching fish-had quite a few lookers, but about the extreem differences in depth.

When they pull the cold water out through the sluice gates I would guess the oxygen goes with it. Is that oxygen replaced in the cold water that remains in the lake and if so at what rate? Based on bait tank procedures I would not think that oxygen is inherrent in cold water just because it is cold or we would only need ice and not also an aerator to keep bait alive.

Any body have any ideas.

Remember the Threadfin/Gizzards will be more shallow, the Alewife will be much deeper and in more open water. I think the Stripers will use what is availble in the area when they feed. The larger fish will stay in the deeper colder water to the point they will get stressed with low 02 levels. This is one reason that Stripers are not stocked in the smaller lakes.

Anybody have a link to oxygen readings at various depths?

[QUOTE=peter;380849]question:

Two weekends ago caught stipers 70-78 feet deep.
This weekend caught one at 70' in the main channel about noon.
Talked to a friend that caught some sunday afternoon at 70' by the dam.
Did not see anybody catching fish.

Sunday I was marking a ton of bait and maybe fish from 18' to 35' close to and in the main channel between Beaver and Indian. Pulled up downlines for a bit to 20-45' still did not catch anything but did not fish that depth for more than an hour and a half.

Then I hear a guide saying they were fishing sunday at 20-35 feet and caught nice fish by mid morning. I mean if I was making decisions based on my graph only I would have been fishing 20-35..but having caught fish deeper and deeper as summer progressed could not see how the fish could go from being caught at 78' to 20' in one week. I will add that the shinners did much much better in the shallower depts which I will guess is due to more oxygen in the shallow water. At 70 feet they lasted about 20 minutes. Also cold fronts passed the Friday of each weekend.

Perplexed not about not catching fish-had quite a few lookers, but about the extreem differences in depth.

When they pull the cold water out through the sluice gates I would guess the oxygen goes with it. Is that oxygen replaced in the cold water that remains in the lake and if so at what rate? Based on bait tank procedures I would not think that oxygen is inherrent in cold water just because it is cold or we would only need ice and not also an aerator to keep bait alive.

Any body have any ideas.[/QUOTE]


Peter, same song, different verse:

Two weeks ago, I was catching decent fish (20-32 inches) jiging down rods with shiners at 60 feet in 85 feet of water (main lake at mouth of Indian Creek). Then this past week, nothing. Could not find fish or bait fish? Then found a small school near the bend in the channels near "pig pin point". Caught 4 fish, 1 keeper and 3 short fish (19 inchers). All at about 25-30 Ft on shiners. Don't like to catch the short fish as they will most likely die. Pulled in the rods and moved on, hoping for larger fish. HE..HE..No such luck.

Went out the following week and could not find a fish or bait anywhere (Halcombs to Pig Pin). Put the pedal to the metal and ran up to the bend in the channel near state park (Just short of Wolf Creek) and marked a lot of fish in the 20 Ft range. But I judged them to be on the small side. Decided not to fish them. Later reports confirmed my anaysis. Boats catching 20 -50 fish with only 6 or so keepers.

Bottom Line...Don"t know where the Bigin"s are...scattered in deep water of LC?

Now I am not fishing Lake Cumberland (although I did for many years), I would be looking for the thermocline to find the bait fish and stripers this time of year. The baitfish and their preditors will be more numerous around the thermocline depths because the water is cooler there but still holds oxygen.

You can find the thermocline pretty easy...just crank up your gain on your depth finder..it will appear as a line across your depth finder. Thermocline depths can vary in a lake as large as the big C so check the location of the thermocline as you move around.

Just a note: cold water has the capability to hold more oxygen than warmer water. The reason your "cold" deep water there has less oxygen is because of the lack of movement or mixing in the deeper depths of that deep lake...hence, the thermocline is the dividing line between your oxygenated water and the very low oxygen level waters below it. The reason you put ice in your livewell is not to oxygenate the water....the cooler water caused by your ice will hold more oxygen as it is oxygenated by your aeriator...the fish in your livewell do not have to "breathe" as much in the cooler water to get the amount of oxygen they need vs if you did not add the ice to the water so they do not get as stressed.

Just the two cents of an ol guide...and no, I don't guide for stripers...lol.