05-05-2014, 02:22 PM
[#0000FF]You know the drill. When limited in mobility by fishing from a tube or toon you gotta be good...and lucky...to guess the best spot to launch and fish. Either that or be prepared to invest only a small amount of time in any one place to determine whether or not there are active fish in the area.
Not sure how far the fish will move on your home waters but in a larger lake it can vary. Not unusual on most kitty trips to find them in deeper water early in the morning...and then moving closer to shallow water as the sun gets higher and the water warms. On a shallow gradually sloping bottom like Utah Lake the fish can move a couple of hundred yards just to go from 5 feet to 3 feet of depth.
In a shallow river system it is not unlikely that adult fish...conditioned over time to different changes in the environment...could instinctively boogie up or down the river for a considerable distance. Or, they just might go sulk on the bottom of the closest deeper hole.
Sometimes a violent wind storm will chase cats out of shallow reeds...where they are spawning or feeding...and out into much deeper water. And that deeper spot might be a mile down the shoreline as well as hundreds of yards out from their original location. In such cases it usually takes a couple of days of nice calm weather for the fish to find their way back to their reed homes.
There are no clearly defined absolutes. It is always a "best guess" thing.
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Not sure how far the fish will move on your home waters but in a larger lake it can vary. Not unusual on most kitty trips to find them in deeper water early in the morning...and then moving closer to shallow water as the sun gets higher and the water warms. On a shallow gradually sloping bottom like Utah Lake the fish can move a couple of hundred yards just to go from 5 feet to 3 feet of depth.
In a shallow river system it is not unlikely that adult fish...conditioned over time to different changes in the environment...could instinctively boogie up or down the river for a considerable distance. Or, they just might go sulk on the bottom of the closest deeper hole.
Sometimes a violent wind storm will chase cats out of shallow reeds...where they are spawning or feeding...and out into much deeper water. And that deeper spot might be a mile down the shoreline as well as hundreds of yards out from their original location. In such cases it usually takes a couple of days of nice calm weather for the fish to find their way back to their reed homes.
There are no clearly defined absolutes. It is always a "best guess" thing.
[/#0000FF]
[signature]