Some Tips on Finding Warmer Water in Early Spring
With these extremely cold days we have been having I felt that you might be interested in some ways to find the warmer water and hence the active fish. There are always typical keys on any lake that lead you to water that can be slightly warmer, and fortunately it only takes a few degrees of warmth in an area to get the bass to bite.
The first key is to try and fish on the north side of the lake, the way the sun rises from the east and sets in the west changes just slightly in the winter. The rise of the sun in the winter is actually more south east and hence the north side of the river receives more sun than the south side.So you can bet that on Guntersville for sue that the mid part of the lake sets up perfect for the sun to warm the northwest banks over the southeast banks.
The next key is rocks; the north side of the lake along Hwy 79 has several rock causeways that will show substantial warm over the pockets that do not have a causeway with rocks attached to it. I have already found this year that there can be as much as 5 degrees difference in water temperature around the rocks. The pure fact is that rocks hold heat and no matter where they are the water within 15 to 20 feet of the rocks are going to be warmer. Sometimes current changes that along main lake points but you can generally find some warmer water in any rocky area.
Lastly red clay banks also warm quicker than other areas on the lake so if you find red clay bottom areas the water will show signs of warmth especially near the banks of up to 3 degrees. Just enough to trigger a strike! Warmer water, slight increase can mean the difference in catching fish!