water clarity

[ugottafish]

i`m curious to know why water clarity seems so important to some. like to sight fish?? see thru the camera?? been catchin pigs with 6'' vis!!

[TeamSnapper]

because sight fishing allows for more and bigger fish to be caught. you can avoid the dinks and focus on the pigs. plus you know what's working/what's not presentation wise. i catch a way higher ratio of big fish when i can sight fish. sure you will still catch the pigs in murky water, if you are just on a great spot, or if you sort through the dinks. But it's much more productive if you can sight them. :)

[Bob T]

Water clarity like teamsnapper said allows you to keep your bait away from the small fish and concentrate on the larger ones. I think in clearer water fish can see your bait like a jigging rapala from a longer ways and can come over to investigate it. My buddy who likes to throw steel at the perchies needs clear water to see the fish to throw the spear at them. Also it is fun to see how the fish react to your bait even if they do not hit it.

Bob

[St Clair Ice Fisher]

I've been an ice fishing fool for 44 years.... here's my long winded point of view on water clarity & how it affects fishing. :rant:

Most of the time when water clarity is poor so is the fishing, far fewer numbers of fish & movement by the fish (roaming or cycling). When visibility is off & fishing is slow your best bet on finding fish is to find cleaner water.

It may be just because it's not the "norm" that the fishing slows way down when the water dirties up. People (traffic) sure slows & seams to be in a daze when visibility is off, even slightly.... it seams to affect their mood, maybe this is true with the fish as well.

I always do much better if I can find clean water, I see more fish, their more active (not in slow motion), their more willing to aggressively take my bait & even chase after it whether using live bait or artificials.

When the water is clean I can flash spoons high in the water column & bring fish in from maybe a quarter mile away opposed to when visibility is poor.... baits have to be much slower moving (to be productive) & can only be seen by the fish a few yards away.

The more fish I can bring into my holes the more aggressive they will always be (aggression with numbers). There's a lot to be said for "sight fishing", you can learn much more in a shorter period of time.... a few years opposed to a lifetime. As a rule 3 days after a weather event water clarity will be improved greatly.

[TeamSnapper]

wow i was going with short answer, but you hit the nail on the head st. clair ice fisher.