I'm really interested in what effect temperature has on our Bass fishing. Its well known that as we move from average winter sea temps of 8-11c through towards our summer average sea temps of 14-18c and there's talk of the "Magic Ten" the temperature at which we can supposedly expect Bass to start taking interest in and maybe even chase down our lures.
The Americans even have tables to predict their freshwater bass behavior in relation to temperature. How relevant this is to our Sea living bass I'm not sure but I wouldn't be surprised if its similar, oxygen levels would of course change with temperature changes as different plants in the lakes contribute their oxygen input and also apparently does the PH values.
What I'm really interested in is local temperature variations and how they effect our fishing. Watching the Sky Sports Tight Lines program hosted by the inimitable Keith Arthur, as I do on a weekly basis, I was most interested to listen to one of his expert guests explain how carp behavior revolves around local temperature changes within the lakes in which they live, apparently a 1 degree temperature difference or even less can be all it takes to switch them on to feed or move to a given area of a lake. I know that Kerry based Pro Bass Guide John Quinlan recommends at times looking for south facing rough ground on a rising tide that will boost the water temp due to the thermal energy stored in the rocks on a sunny day that transfers to the water and warms it for a while as the tide floods, also my local fishing friend Michael Quirke tells me he can feel the local effect from heat of rocks warmed by the summer sun even with a wet-suit on when snorkeling some of his fishing marks - Now that's keen!
So, trying to put this all together it's clear that temperature plays a major role in fish behaviour and probably the prey species they hunt too, not just as the seasons change but also as a local effect even within the sea. Anybody else got any thoughts on this?
PS I've bought what I hope will be a suitable cheapo thermometer for taking a few readings and it may well be cast into places it was never designed to go as well as taking a reading whilist dangling on a lanyard from my wader belt. The scale may not be fine enough to measure the minor differences I might find, air temps will also play a major role in influencing sea surface temps. Oh my! I feel a whole new hobby coming on : )
