Lake turnover is something that many people don’t understand and many people also fail to recognize when the lake turnover takes place. If you have a good understanding of the thermocline, then understanding lake turnover is pretty simple.
I know I have been pretty scientific lately with all of my articles, and they have received a lot of views but I have been a little surprised that there hasn’t been more comments.
This may not be real exciting stuff but part of learning how to catch fish and be consistently successful catching fish is learning the science behind it including what effects the water temperature and weather has on not only the lake, reservoir or river that you are fishing but also the fish themselves. The sooner an angler understands and recognizes that, the sooner he will begin to become more and more successful catching catfish.
If you have not already done so, go back and read the article I posted on thermocline effects and watch all of the videos I posted on the thermocline.
After you read that article and watch the videos then go read the article on catching catfish with the thermocline and watch that video (you need to be signed up for the newsletter to watch the video because it is not posted for the general public to access). In the video about catching catfish with the thermocline I cover how to use your graph (sonar fish finder) to locate the thermocline. I use the Lowrance LCX-15 on my Xpress HD22CC catfish boat but any powerful high resolution graph will work.
In the catfishing the thermocline video I also cover some specific techniques that you can use to locate and catch blue catfish, and even some really nice sized blue catfish with a thermocline presence.
Understanding Lake Turnover
I go into some greater detail in the video below but here are the basics of what happens. As the weather begins to cool in the late summer and early fall the water surface temperature begins to drop. As this occurs it also typically accompanies increasing winds on the lakes and reservoirs as well.
The layers of water that existed when the thermocline was present begin to “mix” and all that cooler water that was on the bottom level of the lake (the “dead zone” that I talked about) begins to mix with the middle layer and the upper layer. All these different layers of water that existed mix together.
All that decaying matter that I referenced several times that was on the bottom of the lake decaying and sucking all of the oxygen out of the bottom layer starts to come up into the upper layers of water as well.
You can tell when the lake turnover starts to take place, because the water changes colors, and it often times happens quite suddenly. You will be out on the water fishing one day and everything will be fine, and a day or two later you return and the water will be a dark color. Often times people say it looks like coffee or chocolate milk but I wouldn’t go that far, to me it just usually looks much darker than normal and you notice a lot of “junk” floating around in the water (that’s the decaying matter coming up).
Another way you can recognize the turnover taking place is there is usually a very foul smell to the water. I have heard it compared to rotten eggs or sulfur but it never smells that way to me, it just smells bad.
Lake turnover can be one of the toughest times of the year to fish. I have had some successful fishing trips for catfish during this time, but they have been few and far between. I usually take this time of year to clear my guide schedule and don’t do much fishing. I use that opportunity to scramble and work on getting all my gear repaired, maintained and ready for the amazing fall catfishing that will quickly approach (like cormorant catfishing). I do all of my boat repairs and maintenance, respool fishing reels etc during this time so I don’t have “down time” when the fishing is really good (Fall and Winter fishing is some of my favorite).
Make sure you watch the lake turnover video below, and as always comment and let me know what you think!
Chad:
Great video. I know that it is not as thrilling as seeing noodlers grabbing catfish, but knowledge is power when you are involved in fishing. If I want to fish during Lake Turnover, I know that I cannt expect to hit the jackpot. It is a good thing to know why all my special trick and tips don’t work. I can just put bait on a pole and enjoy the lake changing. If there are people who give you a hard time about getting so technical they can skip the video, but a true sportsman or competitor should know as much about their sport or field as possible. If it was easy, it wouldn’t be as much fun. You are doing a great job for our sport of choice and site of choice: Learning to catfish.com.
Bob
Thanks for the feedback! Nothing wrong with “just wetting a line” and enjoying being outdoors.
Great info on this sight. Enjoying all the info.
George Bouquet
Chad:
Excellent write up and demo on both Thermocline and Lake Turnover.
Very easy to understand.. Good job.
Question pls – Does the Thermocline and Lake Turnover process occur on RIVERS?? or just Lakes that are fed by rivers?
AND, what if the average depth of a Lake is 20 Ft and at the South end near the dam / spillway it may get down to 30 ft deep in that area.
Based on the average depth being 20 ft deep will the Thermocline and Lake Turnover process occur? I’m thinking back about the surface to 12 feet then 12 ft down to 23 feet and anything below the 23 ft. level is the dead zone.
Tnx,
L o u
This is great. I’m to tired to delve into it all at this late hour (12pm) but, I will very much enjoy this information. For years, the only water I’ve ever enjoyed fishing was on the river. It is a no brainer when the water column is the same throughout but, knowing how to fish lakes will open up one big can of worms for me. Thank you sir.
Thanks, hope you enjoy it and hope it helps!
have injoyed your instruction on fishing ,lake turn over an other articals on fishing.thanks for the help.
Thanks for the feedback
Hi Chad.
I almost spewed my Dr. Pepper! Simply hilarious when you said….
“#1 Don’t Fish.
#2 Don’t fish”
That really hit my funny bone! Guess I have a weird sense of humor.
Anyways, just wanted to comment on the lake turnover. Have you ever noticed that sometimes the water just seems to be a deeper and darker shade blue? Its almost a simply beautiful color of blue to me. Is this when the lake turns over??? You said it looks like coffee or chocolate milk….I’ve seen it look “dirty” before, but Ive seen that throughout the year at different times. Also, does it turnover in March when the water begins to change drastic temperatures from cold to warmer??
Thanks again for the great info and the informative and “funny” video.
Your friend,
James Greene
Mesquite TX
nice video and I am very interested in one of the t shirts. I live in Alabama. Thanx for all of the great tips.
Great video catfishing in Texas has been real good so far this year
Chad
Thanks for all the info. I know here in South Carolina we all can use any and all the help we can get when it comes to getting them big ones.
Really do thank you for your hard work making these vids.
Thanks again from Tulsa,Ok.
Keath
In Washington State, we fish the Snake & Yakima rivers. NO turn over in rivers,Got that! Thank Chad for the report!