TURNOVER SIGNS

[MD]

WHATS THE BEST INDICATION THAT A LAKE AS TURNED OVER? I BELIEVE I HEARD SOMEWHERE THAT SURFACE TEMPS USUALLY DROP TO AROUND 55 DEGREES BEFORE THE LAKE TURNS OVER. ANY TRUTH TO THAT?

[s.f.]

if the lake has a thermo-cline they turn over between 55 and 60 degrees. central minnesota, for example, is about the last week in september usually and about the same at that latitude east. some graphs will show the actual thermo-cline on the screen throughout the summer. this will disappear at turnover time.

[bernie]

correct me if i am wrong but water is at its densest ay 39.4 degrees f the lake turns over when it reaches 39.4 degrees f on the surface it then sinks and forces the other water up

[Dave in Walker]

Bernie, your right, in a perfect world if their was never any wind, thats when the lakes would turn, You usually get a lot of wind in the fall and the lakes that are deep enough to turn can do it when the water temps are in the 50 to 60 degree range, Signs to look for are a stagnent smell to the water, and it usually gets kinds of yu cky with dead weeds and stuff showing up. The only way to know for sure is to drop a temp probe and it will theoretically be the same temp from top to bottom. Lakes here in north central Minnesota, specifically Lake Bemidji was 49.7 degrees today and I am quite sure they have finished turning a week or 2 ago

[Brian_MN]

Bernie,

You're absolutely right about the water density thing, but you have to take into account that the water under the thermocline is typically in the 50-55 degree range. So, when the surface water gets cooler than the bottom layer, the turnover happens. In a lot of lakes it's not a dramatic event, but it happens more gradually. Wind accelerates the process a lot. What I usually go by is a quick drop in surface temp. On my local lake last week it went from a surface temp of 61 to 52 in two days. Today the fish are still nowhere to be found. Hopefully they'll start getting into their fall patterns soon.

[bernie]

thyanks for clarifying that

[Dan]

I live and fish in Kentucky and turnover depends a lot on the size and the depth of the lake that you are fishing. A deep lake will completely turnover later in the year than a shallow lake because the temperature is lower at the bottom of a deep lake that at the bottom of a shallow lake. Turnover is techically occurring when the temperature is the same from top to bottom. I was out last Thursday at a lake that is about 40 feet max at the dam and the surface temp had dropped to about 60 degrees. One thing that was noticeable was that the fish according to my graph were equally distributed from top to bottom. That is usually a very good sign that turnover is occurring. It is hard to get the fish interested when they are spread out like that.

[LindyRigger]

I have not fished much in the fall (usually deer hunting). I keep hearing about the lakes turning over. What does this mean and how does it affect fishing. It sounds like the fishing is good after the turnover...is this correct.

LindyRigger