Lake Turnover

[Josh]

I guess I've got an understanding of whats taking place, now my question is
application. Yesterday took a friend out to Lake Michigan to get some
smallies. Usually the lake is clear, so much so that you can see down as far
as 17 feet in places. Well yesterday it looked like someone took a big spoon
and stirred up the entire bottom. There were patches of clear water here and
there and close to shore there were a few patches of clearer water, but for
the most part the Lake was milky white/blue. Visibility was no more than a
foot and a half at the most. Does a lake as big as lake Mich. experience
turnover or does it just happen in shallower areas of it. Was just wondering
what dirtied up that lake. No rain to speak of and winds have not been
outside of normal. Any thoughts appreciated.

--
God Bless America

Josh The Bad Bear

[Al J]

I'm not sure that a big lake like Michigan turns over quite like a small
one. If you mean the western side, the cold weather and strong
northwest/west winds we had a couple of weeks ago have pushed the warmer
water away from shore letting cooler water and a lot of muck from the
bottom take it's place. The surface water temperature has only dropped
about 15 degrees and down deeper it's more like 40 degrees so this is
just the start of the process.

We went to Kenosha earlier this week to finish stocking the freezer for
winter. The big Chinook were in spawn mode and weren't biting much but
there were plenty of alewives around. We didn't fish for SM, but if they
eat alewives they're having a feast.

I was out on a smaller SE WI lake yesterday and was surprised that the
water temp was already down in the mid to high 50s. The water was still
clear and there were no signs of turnover. It was mildly overcast and
the bite should have been great, but in 3 hours I only caught 2 LM, both
around 2 pounds. The Ducks were practicing formation flying and making
all kinds of noise - a shotgun would have been a lot more productive.


In article >, says...
> I guess I've got an understanding of whats taking place, now my question is
> application. Yesterday took a friend out to Lake Michigan to get some
> smallies. Usually the lake is clear, so much so that you can see down as far
> as 17 feet in places. Well yesterday it looked like someone took a big spoon
> and stirred up the entire bottom. There were patches of clear water here and
> there and close to shore there were a few patches of clearer water, but for
> the most part the Lake was milky white/blue. Visibility was no more than a
> foot and a half at the most. Does a lake as big as lake Mich. experience
> turnover or does it just happen in shallower areas of it. Was just wondering
> what dirtied up that lake. No rain to speak of and winds have not been
> outside of normal. Any thoughts appreciated.
>
>