I hit Deep Creek today with my son, Joseph. The water was running over the spillway and you had to drive through about a foot of water to get across to the boat ramp. The dock had blown around and was blocking the boat ramp, so we launched over by the spillway. It was a slow catching day. The water wasn't muddy, and looked good. We marked lots of fish, but few takers. I only caught three trout in four hours of fishing. But I outfished Joe! He had one on and several hits, but never got one into the boat. We pulled the dock back around away from the ramp so we could get out on the ramp and other people could use it. It was still fun to get away with my son for a little R&R. Acey
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Thanks for the report. Sounds like runoff and turnover.
Windriver
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Yeah. The stream coming into Deep Creek was small now so it looks like the main run off has occured. The snow is way back on the mountains now. I had not thought about the turn over of the lake. How long does it take and how long before the fishing will turn back on again? I never checked the water temperature, but it was cold to wash your hands in it. We marked fish everywhere we went, but most were suspended down 7 to 12 feet along the shoreline and down 25 to 60 out in the middle. Does the thermocline go away after the lake turns over? Acey
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Thanks for the report. Part of the problem with Deep Creek is that it gets fished out. Too many guys want to bring home a limit. It isn't on the F&G website yet but I heard from a friend that the F&G planted Deep Creek the other day. He told me he couldn't keep the recently planted fish off his hook but wasn't able to catch anything else. One thing that can make a big difference before the water warms up is a slower presentation.
I'm no expert on turnover or thermocline but I'll tell you how I think it works. I haven't researched this much so someone else might be able to give you more details. Thermocline disappears when the lake turns over. When a lake turns over the fish have locked jaw for a few days (2-3? Days, probably depends on the lake). The water temperature will be around 39 degrees when a lake turns over.
Update: I looked up a few articles and it looks like turn over can cause fish to have locked jaw for up to 2 weeks. I think in most of the smaller reservoirs it is a realatively quick process that lasts less than a week. Like I said earlier I'm not an expert on this so take what I have written with a grain of salt.
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