HOW CAN YOU TELL WHEN A LAKE HAVE TURN OVER? I FISH TAWOKANIE A LOT FOR CATFISH AND REALIZE THE LAKE TURNS OVER DURING SUMMER MONTHS.CAN ANYBODY TELL ME WHEN THE LAKE WILL AND HOW TO KNOW.

Look at this

http://www.mlswa.org/lkclassf.htm

Why are you yelling?

Lakes turn over in the fall when the surface cools faster than the deeper water. They develop a Thermocline in the summer.

People will be saying that a lake is turning over all the time.
I see my home lakes turn over twice a year. Fishing will be all jacked up for about a week, but they can be caught shallow.
On Lake Waco you will know the lake is turning over because you can smell the bottom of the lake. It will have a mild "stagnant" smell.

Just like our drinking water!!!!lol
Thank God we moved to the country.

Most lakes will turn over in the winter months. When the surface water becomes colder than the deep water. It will then sink as cold water is more dense. Hot water is less dense.

Here is some more specifics.

The loss of dissolved oxygen in lake water during the summer months is generally associated with a process that is called thermal stratification. This phenomenon involves the development of temperature �layers�, in which the water near the surface is uniformly warm to a depth that varies throughout the summer. Under the surface layer (referred to as the epilimnion) there is a zone of transition (thermocline) in which the water temperature drops rapidly. From the transition zone to the bottom of the lake is the layer of water that is the coldest (hypolimnion), and the most dense (heavy). During the summer months the coldest layer near the bottom is physically and chemically separated from the surface.

The bottom sediments in biologically productive lakes are rich in organic matter that has accumulated over time (algae and other plankton, and organic soil material). As this matter is degraded by microbes, oxygen is consumed from the overlying water. During the stratification period there may be no opportunity for oxygen to be replenished. Depending on the extent of the oxygen loss, cold water fishery habitat may be reduced. Another possible result of oxygen depression or depletion is the potential release of biologically-available phosphorus from the bottom sediments.

Dissolved oxygen is replenished during the fall, when short days and cool air temperatures cause the lake to De-stratify or �mix�. This process is also referred to as �turning over�. Most lakes turn over twice each year - once in the fall and again in the spring. The degree to which individual lakes experience thermal stratification depends on the depth and volume of the lake and the orientation of the lake basin to prevailing winds. Annual weather patterns and individual weather events strongly influence the degree and duration of thermal stratification.

A good read. You will have to copy and paste it to your broser. Can't get it to link.

http://www.islandnet.com/~see/weather/elements/turnlakes.htm

Interesting reading.

On a lake like Grapevine where the Corps installed aerators (the "bubbles"), how much of the lake does that affect? Will most of the lake still have a thermocline? I've never actually been over the bubbles at Grapevine, just heard of them, but wondered how much of the lake they could affect adding oxygen and some amount of circulation.

I always figured lakes turned over in the fall, you can tell
by the stuff coming to the top and the smell. However after
reding trex's sience link, I would have to say I actually have
no Idea.

Most fisherman think the lake is "turning over " when they
see the dead organic matter turn loose from the bottom due
to not enough O2. Usually happens in the late summer early
fall.
Inversion due to increased water density at low temps is a whole nother process.

Mo

Big Red 12 stated from the Textbook and did a great job of it. In most of the central and east Texas lakes that "stuff" coming up for the bottom is actually part of the process. There are so much organic matter in Texas lakes that sink to the bottom and eventually decompose. That process will actually generate heat and methane gas (if you ever see bubbles rising to the surface, hold a lighter near them and watch what happens when the bubble burst). The heat generated by that decomposition will cause the layer of dead biomass to rise to the surface when the cooler surface water sinks to the bottom.