Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations How long after ice off do fish "wake up"?

Our lake has been 100% ice free for ~ 2weeks. There is still a lot of snow melt runoff going through the lake currently and will probably continue for a couple weeks so the water is still very cold. I do not know the exact temp as I am not there. There is still absolutely zero signs of any fish kill or crayfish kill which is very different from past years. However, there is also zero signs of any trout! Huge schools of fatheads, scuds, leeches, etc but no trout. No trout jumping, no trout hitting top water and buddy fished for an hour or so and not a single bite. When there is trout in the lake in the Summer you can see fish jumping here and there all throughout the day. It is discouraging not to have that now, but we have never had live fish in the Spring so I don't know if that is normal or not.


Are the trout just still lethargic from the winter or are they all dead??

I'd love to hear some thoughts.

Only 2 weeks without ice... I would say it's too soon just yet if you can stick your hand in the water and your hand becomes numb.... I'd give it a couple more weeks. I remember in North Wisconsin the lake by me never really got to good till about June to mid June, but I never really fished for trout. So I am just kinda taking a guess at what I have seen with other fish. Keep us posted....

RC

Thanks RC, will do!

What are the surface temps? I bet your warmer water is still in the deeper zones. Fish the warmest water and you'll likely have good luck. Most fish species don't put on the feed bag until surface temps start to reach 45 degrees after ice out.

Once the ice comes off fish are usually in the same spots they were when you were ice fishing. Windblown food and sun warmed shorelines are the exceptions.

I suspect the trout have died but the other organisms that require less DO have survived. There could be a few trout that survived who were in the vicinity of the aerator during winter.

Bill I am thinking the same thing. Would you expect them to be "showing themselves" like normal by now?

According to everything I have read trout don't really get active till about 45 + degrees. So like said above check them temps if your still below 45 you may have some luck.

Man that would suck to have a beautiful place like that and you cant maintain any fish.... Ugh I hope you get it right one day...

RC

RC I will get it checked next time someone goes up. Maybe a dump question, but if we are talking surface temp would a laser thermometer work?

I will get fish to live. Period. Going all out on it up there this Summer!

Cool keep us posted as to what you do I love looking at pics of that place it's crazy awesome!! It would be hard for me to leave it!!

RC

P.S. not sure on the Laser Thermo? Maybe someone else will know.

Laser or Infrared thermometers can be a tricky tool. It all has to do with emissivity. I'll let you all look that up, but your IR thermos read very dull surfaces like a flat black painted object much better than the opposite like chrome, glass and the like (water). Some themos have emissivity settings for such variances, but that still only gets you in a ballpark. I would not trust an IR thermometer for water temps if you need to be within 1 0 to 15 degrees, but I would trust an object that had enough time to absorb the waters temp that had a dark and dull surface. A small piece of flat black painted aluminum would work well so long as it was submerged just beneath the surface for, say, five to ten minutes, and had the film of water quickly wiped off prior to hitting with the gun. This should get you with a few degrees. Note, do this in the shade as sunlight will heat the piece even underwater.

All in all, a regular ole' mercury thermometer would be best as long as you have confidence in its accuracy.

RT are cool water fish as are pike , YP , WE etc. RT are less low DO tolerant than many fish so if they did winter kill it would be a DO issue not a temp issue , unless the pond mostly froze solid (most of water frozen). Most pond fish species eat during the winter just at much lower levels (they don't go to sleep). Let us know what you find out.

Thanks fellas! I didn't literally mean wake up like they were asleep. I figured they were more lethargic in the Winter while under the ice and I was HOPING maybe they were still lethargic and that's why they weren't jumping, etc.

I am 99.9% positive we are battling a low DO issue up there still.

I have a YSI DO meter up there that would tell temps, but I hate to ask my buddy to dig that out and deal with it. I should be able to get him to stick a thermometer in the water.

I will be up there in a hair more than three weeks.

I recently bought one of those cheap infrared thermometers to take readings on the ceiling around my house (to see where more insulation is needed). It has a caution that inexact readings can be expected on shiny surfaces including glass and water.

Good luck with keeping your fish goals alive!