Is there an ideal or favorite water temp that bass concentrate to or prefer?? I was on a power plant lake this weekend and caught fish in 67 degrees and 80 degrees on opposite ends of the lake?? Is there an ideal or sought after water temp???
Thanks,
KBB

The preferred temperature of bass is somewhere in the mid 80's. That said there are many different factors that could push fish out of the ideal temp. Availability of food, shelter, oxygen, and avoidance of fishing/boating pressure. A fish in 40 degree water is going to make some sacrifices to find warmer water but a fish in 70 degree water might very well prioritize proximity to prey over warmer water. It's also worth noting the preferred temp of most bait fish is well lower than the preferred temp of bass.

72

70

60-68

where did you come up with mid 80's?

"Knowing Bass, The Scientific Approach to Catching More Fish." By Keith Jones, PhD pg 196. He's a PhD in fish biology that helped found the Berkley research center for bass. They did decades of experiments to come up with all sorts of preferences of bass. Great book by the way.

Thanks. I would have figured low to mid 70s.

69...

The preferred temp of most baitfish, like shad is closer to 70 degrees. In natural environments many bass will give up their preferred temp as a trade off for proximity to prey.

Sorry for the noob question.

So what does "preferred bass temperature" mean? Do fish move to those areas where the water is 80�F? Are the black bass more active and more willing to forage in that desirable temp?

Preferred temp just means that if all things were laid equal the bass would prefer to be in water in the mid 80's. The experiment they did at Berkley was a long tank that had different compartments of different water temperatures. Bass could freely move between the compartments and they would chose to go to the tanks that had water in the mid 80 degree range. If bass can find water with plenty of food, oxygen, shelter, and protection from anglers in the mid 80's that is where they would prefer to go. However, in the real world this is rarely the case and that is why you see fish spread throughout the water column across a variety of temperatures. Really the only time of year that temperature is a reliable predictor of bass location is the spring. You'll find more bass and more active bass in warmer water. How often bass feed is a function of metabolic rate, which in turn is a function of temperature, but that is another topic altogether.

Thanks all for the replies!!!

Thanks Jpurdue!

This sounds like Squaw, we were out there yesterday and recorded 78on south end and as cold as 65 way up the river