algal bloom?

[bassin addict]

I was out fishing bass on the weekend that normally has tea colored water, visibility of about 3-4 feet and holds plenty of smallmouth. This weekend however, the water was loaded with greyish brown particles, and a blue-green line of particles could be found on the downwind side of islands. I'm guessing Algae? The clarity of the water is greatly reduced, I hit rocks with my trolling motor that I couldn't even see! (less than one foot) I tried everything from bulging spinnerbaits on the surface, jerkbaits, crankbaits, tube jigs, dropshotting, deadsticking but couldn't really develop a pattern. Only managed 5 bites in 10 hours. And the bass that did commit to the lures, would trash it like they wanted to kill it, very aggressive.... I've fished for pike in similar conditions before with not mcuh luck either. Anyone have suggestions on lures or techniques to try? Water temp was 61 degrees...

 

Thanks

[Jer]

I'd say the lake has turned over.

 

We were on a smaller lake last week with exactly the same conditions as you said. Surface temps at 63-64F were lower than anywhere else I have seen so far this year, just the day before we were at a nearby lake with tamps as high as 69-70F (same as Buckhorn right now) and the water was nice and clean.

 

We didn't get much all day either, best bite was early.

[ccmtcanada]

Tea stained lake....assuming you are north? Rocky bottom....perhaps Haliburton or Nipissing area? Fall turnover (from what I've read) usually begins at around 50F, so the water temps seem a little high still.

 

Without knowing how big your lake is and how it's fed, it's hard to answer your question. Were you fishing near a large river that feeds the lake where lots of sediment could have come down if you were there a day or two after a large rainfall event?

 

I've found for tea stained lakes, brass blades on spinners or lures seems to make the difference between a slow and a good day.

[bassin addict]

ccmt, you are right. I am in the Nipissing area. The lake is about 4 kms long by 1 km wide and fed mostly by small creeks. So no real big rivers to carry sediments into it... It has rained quite a bit the last little while but it has most of the summer and this is the first time I observe this... My thoughts are that it's still too early for a turnover. I'll keep your suggestion about copper blades in mind!

[ccmtcanada]

When Bly and I were fishing Nipissing this past summer (and Ahmic Lake...another rocky tea stained lake about an hour and a half south of Nipissing), the only thing that worked well for us was the brass bladed spinners. Cant hurt to throw a few in your tackle box and try it out next time you are out. We caught pike, bass and even had a big muskie follow on one. As soon as we tried other things...things slowed right down. Good luck!

[jwl]

probably not high enough water temps for an algae bloom, my guess would be some weedy areas dying off,and the result is alot of that floating around in the water that looks very simular to algae

Edited September 15, 2008 by jwl