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Hot Water Lakes - Questions #11332428 01/08/16 10:52 PM
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tin man 55 Offline OP
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OK, I'm a newbie for these hot water lakes (squaw creek, Monticello, Welsh, etc). I went to Welsh last weekend, and that's the only time I've been on a power plant lake. after reading a lot of good information on here, I have some questions that I'm sure some of you guys can answer:

1. when do the bass spawn? I'm guessing at the coldest part of the winter which would be late January and into February. I guess it would be when the water temp is at it's lowest?

2. why are there no really big bass in these lakes? I think someone said in a prior post that because of the extreme hot water in the summer, that the bass don't live long enough to get really big; but, if that's the case, then do you see a lot of big bass floating dead during the summer? what happens to them? I would think that, just like us, the bass tend to slow down when the water gets really cold (below 50) or really hot (above 95); but is the stress so bad that it kills them?

3. why are there so many 2.5 to 3.5 pound bass in welsh? that's all I caught in my one day, and that appears to be most of what everyone is catching based on posts in this forum and youtube videos. was there a tremendous spawn 2-3 years ago (like the one at fork this past spring)? was there a fish kill prior to that? anybody got a theory?

thanks for the info on these items; I'm trying to learn about these lakes, and this forum seems to have some very knowledgeable folks.


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Re: Hot Water Lakes - Questions [Re: tin man 55] #11332639 01/09/16 01:07 AM
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Kyle405 Offline
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There is big fish on squaw creek. I've never fished the other power lakes. But trust me, they are there on squaw.

Re: Hot Water Lakes - Questions [Re: tin man 55] #11332720 01/09/16 01:43 AM
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musiclife_7 Offline
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Plenty of 4-5lbers in welsh. Monti is well known for bigger fish too. Yes bass spawn jan/feb usually. Most big bass come on slow baits, not moving baits. U have to earn them. Honestly the pp lakes are great to get out and catch numbers all year. Have fun.

Re: Hot Water Lakes - Questions [Re: tin man 55] #11332732 01/09/16 01:48 AM
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David Burton Offline
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The record on Welsh is 15 something. The numbers are there of the small-to-mid sized fish, so it may be competition for resources. These are typically smaller lakes too.


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Re: Hot Water Lakes - Questions [Re: tin man 55] #11332999 01/09/16 04:10 AM
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tin man 55 Offline OP
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another question - is that a big pile of rocks that is near the plant? my gps map said it was either 10 or 15 feet, but as I idled over it, it was only about 5 feet. and not marked in any way? if the water drops any, that would sure ruin someone's day. I think it was rocks because the display on my lowrance was bright white; so whatever it was is very hard.


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Re: Hot Water Lakes - Questions [Re: tin man 55] #11333062 01/09/16 04:53 AM
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David Burton Offline
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Rocks, yes. Tops out at normal pool at about 2 ft. BE CAREFUL!


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Re: Hot Water Lakes - Questions [Re: tin man 55] #11333073 01/09/16 05:05 AM
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It's usually hard to catch keeper size fish on just about any lake. Maybe it's because meat hunters take them home and eat them.

Re: Hot Water Lakes - Questions [Re: tin man 55] #11333093 01/09/16 05:24 AM
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Flippin-Out Offline
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You need to buy a book or two on the basics of bass life cycle and bass fishing. Check Amazon and read some of the reviews to get books that seem to have what you need.

Bass do not spawn in the coldest time of the year. They depend on water temperature being "just right" for survival of eggs and fry. That temp is generally in the 60s, leaning to upper 60s most agree. That temperature happens sooner in power-plant lakes than other surrounding lakes. It happens last in northern climates.

If the water were too hot for really big bass, there wouldn't be any really big bass to die in the first place - they simply would not get big. Truly trophy bass are rare, and they don't get to that age without being careful. Hence, we catch very few of their population, whatever it may be. MOST bass get old and die before reaching true trophy proportions just as most humans get old and die before growing to the size of a pro linebacker. Many fish don't have the genetics for it, and of those that do, the pitfalls of living long enough to grow big will make for a much smaller population of them.

Our power-plant lakes will probably never yield a record-crushing weight bass because there are limits to what is comfortable for bass, just like all other creatures. Bass will only get to the giant sizes where EVERYTHING is just right. That means food, environment (temperature, water quality, cover, lack of depredation, etc.) and genetics. Larger bass are said to be less heat tolerant (per fisheries biologists), so natural selection comes into play. The biologists have stated that the southern 1/3 of Florida rarely sees fish over 10 pounds as compared to the central 1/3 of the state for this reason.

Re: Hot Water Lakes - Questions [Re: Razorback] #11333168 01/09/16 10:44 AM
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Rudy Lackey Offline
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Originally Posted By: Razorback
It's usually hard to catch keeper size fish on just about any lake. Maybe it's because meat hunters take them home and eat them.

Is that sign still up at Welsh ? Fish has dangerous amounts of Selenium ?


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Re: Hot Water Lakes - Questions [Re: tin man 55] #11333185 01/09/16 12:13 PM
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Hot water lakes were the best thing going in the late 70's 80's bass grew fast and fishing was great all year round. Remember the State Record was Broken on Monticello with a 13+ lber. That record held less than a year when Welsh opened up and gave up a 14+ and the same guy that caught that one broke his own record a week later with a 15.
One of my best day of fishing Monticello came from a 20 yard stretch just before the intake to the plant, grass was about 2 ft below the surface and I was throwing a little bitty crank bait reeling it down till it hit the grass and letting it float up those bass would nail it. I caught 17 bass with a guesstimated weight of around 75 lbs. in about an hours time. I had another day where the bass were shallow at the edge of grass in the cove by the bridge throwing a chartreuse pepper zoom worm 6 and 8 lbers giving me a great day. Sadly those looked horrible with cancer looking growths and they all looked like they had been shot in the mouth with Buckshot.


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Re: Hot Water Lakes - Questions [Re: Flippin-Out] #11333220 01/09/16 01:12 PM
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bush hog Offline
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Originally Posted By: Flippin-Out
You need to buy a book or two on the basics of bass life cycle and bass fishing. Check Amazon and read some of the reviews to get books that seem to have what you need.

Bass do not spawn in the coldest time of the year. They depend on water temperature being "just right" for survival of eggs and fry. That temp is generally in the 60s, leaning to upper 60s most agree. That temperature happens sooner in power-plant lakes than other surrounding lakes. It happens last in northern climates.

If the water were too hot for really big bass, there wouldn't be any really big bass to die in the first place - they simply would not get big. Truly trophy bass are rare, and they don't get to that age without being careful. Hence, we catch very few of their population, whatever it may be. MOST bass get old and die before reaching true trophy proportions just as most humans get old and die before growing to the size of a pro linebacker. Many fish don't have the genetics for it, and of those that do, the pitfalls of living long enough to grow big will make for a much smaller population of them.

Our power-plant lakes will probably never yield a record-crushing weight bass because there are limits to what is comfortable for bass, just like all other creatures. Bass will only get to the giant sizes where EVERYTHING is just right. That means food, environment (temperature, water quality, cover, lack of depredation, etc.) and genetics. Larger bass are said to be less heat tolerant (per fisheries biologists), so natural selection comes into play. The biologists have stated that the southern 1/3 of Florida rarely sees fish over 10 pounds as compared to the central 1/3 of the state for this reason.

thumb The same reason you don't find a trophy buck standing behind every tree....environment and genetics.

Last edited by bush hog; 01/09/16 01:15 PM.

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