Water Temp. down again

[Big Cliff]

Went out last night for about an hour, almost took my auger! Water temp was back down to 43°. I tried a couple of spots caught one dink perch and decided that if it got any colder I'd be cleaning ice off the islets on my rod. I came back home.

 

Weather report for the next few days are still single diget highs with very little rain which means water levels are going to stay low. Looks like the next week is going to be tough fishing for sure!

 

Well, mayby the walleye opener will be back on track although I've heard that the walleye spawned a couple of weeks ago then Kawartha Conservation (or whoever) dropped the water level so low that the spawning beds were exposed and dry. That can't be good!

 

Sure glad I don't have to rely on what I catch to feed my family!

[misfish]

Cliff,Im surprised you don,t have a small hobby farm going.

 

As for the water temps,we have been spoiled. Mother nature is a funny lady.

[captpierre]

Hey Cliff, are water levels coming back up?

[whiskywizard]

Hey Cliff, are water levels coming back up?

 

A wee bit, but not to where it should be.

[Sinker]

The guys running the locks are on crack. I don't know what they're thinking sometimes. I haven't seen the water that low at this time for years, and years. I have no clue why they would let the water down. That can mess up the walleye fishing in all those lakes for years. Brutal

 

S.

[fishindevil]

its the clowns at the trent severn waterway that have caused this huge problem, the walleyes spawn was a bust again this year,as the water levels on most of the kawarthas,are about a foot below the august water levels,its a joke the ministry is trying to take the waterway management to court as they did not maintain a minimum level for the spawn and for at least 2 weeks afterwards which the mnr has been trying to get them to do for years,its a shame,the whole waterway is run by a clown in an office building in toronto,we didnt get the snow or the rain to keep the lakes up and they let all the water go even before the ice was off the lakes,and the mnr was against this telling them there would not be enough water in the weeks that follow,there is not even enough water in haliburton to draw down to help the lakes,and now they might have to delay the locks opening up cause of extreamely low water,its the lowest its ever been at this time of year !!!!!

[crappieperchhunter]

Actually I'm very happy it has stayed cool. I have next week booked off to be up in Bobcaygeon and I have been worried since mid march that my fav crappie spots would be done by the time I got up there. Now I'm pretty sure they won't be

 

The bugs shouldn't be bad yet either :thumbsup_anim: Another good thing.

 

I have noticed that the water is lower then I have ever seen it at this time of year though. Not real happy about what problems that would have created for the walleye though

Edited April 26, 2012 by crappieperchhunter

[12footspringbok]

I was hoping the water would be warming a bit by now. Still going to give one of my spring panfish spots a try this weekend. A month ago they were still in 15-20 fow near the shallow flats but had major lockjaw. I suspect it will be the same this weekend. You know what they say, a bad day fishing is still better than a good day at work.

[Jigger]

Strange. The way some guys are talking, bass have essentially spawned already. That must mean walleye were done a month ago! Not to worry guys, the fish populations are in good hands...

 

My phone doesnt have a sarcasm font BTW...

[Christopheraaron]

Strange. The way some guys are talking, bass have essentially spawned already. That must mean walleye were done a month ago! Not to worry guys, the fish populations are in good hands...

 

My phone doesnt have a sarcasm font BTW...

 

In that case the bass are in trouble too!

[BillM]

Bass already spawned? I doubt it... There was a warm spell, but it didn't heat up the lakes that much..

[fishnsled]

Bass already spawned? I doubt it... There was a warm spell, but it didn't heat up the lakes that much..

 

X2

[Raf]

we've had big winds mixing the water and cold temps the last few weeks. other than that freak show in march which didn't do much other than heat the top 6" of water in the grand scheme of things, i'd say it's been a cooler than normal spring so far.

[colin519]

Look on the bright side. Trout fishing is good.

Edited April 26, 2012 by colin519

[Big Cliff]

Actually I'm very happy it has stayed cool. I have next week booked off to be up in Bobcaygeon and I have been worried since mid march that my fav crappie spots would be done by the time I got up there. Now I'm pretty sure they won't be

 

The bugs shouldn't be bad yet either :thumbsup_anim: Another good thing.

 

I have noticed that the water is lower then I have ever seen it at this time of year though. Not real happy about what problems that would have created for the walleye though

 

Well Steve, the water is still lower than I think I have ever seen it, I went out again last night, the water was actually cooler than the previous night. I tried a couple of my favorite crappie holes and ended up with two sunfish and a SM for about an hour and a half. I was marking suspended fish in 16-18' of water but I tried pinhed minnows and a few other things and couldn't get them to hit.the wind tonight will be drawing the heat down even further. I have a feeling that next week might still be a week too early. I'll bet that we will be fishing crappie on the walleye opener.

[Christopheraaron]

Even with these cold days there are still reports of fish being caught in 18" of water, at mid day the fish should be basking in the shallows, (just a guess).

[Sinker]

we've had big winds mixing the water and cold temps the last few weeks. other than that freak show in march which didn't do much other than heat the top 6" of water in the grand scheme of things, i'd say it's been a cooler than normal spring so far.

 

Bingo!

 

The water hasn't warmed up at all. Maybe for a few days, a couple weeks apart, but its still cold.

 

I fished lakers up in the haliburton area two weeks ago, and the water was 40F on the surface. I just got back from 3 days up there, and it was 43-46 on the same small lake. Not much change in 2 weeks of fairly warm weather. Lots of big winds though.

 

I have ice fished at this time of year many times. Once the bugs get going, things will pick up. I've also caught lots of crappies on the walleye opener on cold springs, but the water was very high those times. I'm not sure how the low water will effect things....

 

BTW, the lakes we fished trout on the last 3 days, the water is very high, but the rivers/creeks are super low. They've at least held enough water back, that the lakes in that area aren't drying up too.

 

Certainly a different spring season any way you look at it.

 

 

S.

[Big Cliff]

Even with these cold days there are still reports of fish being caught in 18" of water, at mid day the fish should be basking in the shallows, (just a guess).

 

Well, I don't know about other lakes but I do know that around here, where there would normally be 18" of water you are lucky if there is 2". Temperature here last night dropped to -6 with gusty winds all night. You can bet that the water will have lost more heat again last night. With a forecast high today of only +5 and with much cooler temperatures than normal forecast for the weekend, you can bet the fishing is going to be tougher than it was last Sunday and that was brutal. Four boats, 8 crappie for the day!

[Jigger]

 

BTW, the lakes we fished trout on the last 3 days, the water is very high, but the rivers/creeks are super low. They've at least held enough water back, that the lakes in that area aren't drying up too.

 

Certainly a different spring season any way you look at it.

 

 

S.

 

The lakewater in Haliburton is only as high as it is until the May long weekend. Then the tides will turn and we'll be seeing lots of docks ending in beaches. The Kawarthas will be happy that they can use their locks so screw everyone else... And for what, exactly? How much commercial traffic absolutely NEEDS to get from top to bottom there? I for one have been pretty worried about this situation for awhile now.

[Sinker]

I hear ya Jarrod.

 

My cottage lake is always highly effected by the trent severn yahoos. Some years i can't even get my boat in the lake.

 

 

I guess they are just waiting for the fish to spawn up in that area, then they will drop the water and ruin that hatch as well

 

I'm not sure who is the actual person in charge of making the decisions, but they need to be contacted, and an explanation made public. I've contacted my MP but haven't had any response at all yet.

 

S.

[Big Cliff]

Went to a meeting last year with Kawartha Conservation, Trent Severn (and naturally our local politicians). Same old, same old bull. 5 year studies to try to figure out that there is a weed problem in our lake. When I asked what I should do if I caught a round gobie? The answer was kill it. Then I asked what I should do if I saw a cormorant, I was told I'm not allowed to shoot it!

 

The weeds are worse than I have ever seen them, phosphate levels are higher than they have ever been since they put a "land fill site" (dump) up river and they blame the farmers and land owners for using too much furtilizer. They actually tried to segregate me off to one side when I started to ask too many questions.

 

How much more of this stuff are we going to take before we do something about it?

Edited April 27, 2012 by Big Cliff

[Billy Bob]

In the 70's the Great Lake had too high phosphate levels, resulting in too much fertilization in the water.....then the zebra mussels invaded the Great Lakes.....they then said the zebra mussels were filtering the water too much and it was now too clear of water.....now the western basin has too high of phosphate levels again.....

 

Who do you believe........I always go by my instinct....FOLLOW THE MONEY...

[lovetofish]

I feel sorry for people who had cottages on Bark Lake 2 years ago! They did a dam repair and the water level was down 5-7'! Some of the smaller bays where people have there cottages had no water at all. The weird thing is, the bass fishing was better then ever! One of the few times we same Smallies feeding in schools. Now that is serious fun! Watching them fight over your lures is something else.

[captpierre]

Well, I don't know about other lakes but I do know that around here, where there would normally be 18" of water you are lucky if there is 2". Temperature here last night dropped to -6 with gusty winds all night. You can bet that the water will have lost more heat again last night. With a forecast high today of only +5 and with much cooler temperatures than normal forecast for the weekend, you can bet the fishing is going to be tougher than it was last Sunday and that was brutal. Four boats, 8 crappie for the day!

 

Hey Cliff. Don't know if you know about this website. Gives current water levels on Trent System lakes.

 

Looks like Sturgeon is way low. Pigeon (where I am) is higher and almost normal.

 

What gives?

 

http://www.pc.gc.ca/lhn-nhs/on/trentsevern/visit/ne-wl/trent_e.asp

Edited April 28, 2012 by captpierre

[Big Cliff]

They use Sturgeon lake as a buffer. They typically lower the water levels in the early spring so they can hold water back if we get heavy rains and run off. This year there wasn't any snow melt to speak of and we haven't had much in the way of rain.