Cartoon by Peter Kohlsaat

I’m a fishery biologist. Anglers I meet at the boat ramp often say, “Man, you’ve got the best job in the world.” I agree, but those conversations usually occur on warm, sunny days. They might not be so envious when we come in after pounding waves in a jonboat when its 38°F and raining. Of course, they’re not at the lake those days.

There are many plusses to being a fishery biologist, but some drawbacks as well. For one, I’ve got a dermatologist on retainer. I was 20 before they invented sunblock, and 40 before I had enough sense to use it. Then there’s hearing loss from sitting next to a generator in an electrofishing boat. (Well, maybe it’s old age, but it’s a novel excuse.)

At the end of my list of drawbacks: Being a biologist can curb the fun of being an angler. I believe what I’ve learned in biology helps me catch fish. But all that book learnin’, seasoned with 30 years of observing fish and their habitats, can really wreck the moment when I read the contemporary wisdom packed into popular fishing articles.

I’m reading an article, maybe about a new can’t-miss technique or hot lure, and really getting involved. “Yep, I gotta try that,” I’ll think to myself. But just as I’m about to start loading rods in the boat, the glossy-page bassin’ hero confidently states something any card-carrying fishery biologist recognizes as malarky.

That’s cause for consternation, kind of like snakes in toilets and other urban myths. Do I accept the fishing wisdom and ignore the bonehead biology, or figure the angling information is as far off base as the biology? Knowing that writers get paid by the word and not by the number of facts, I tend to ignore the biological faux pas, believe the fishing wisdom, and head to the lake after stopping at the local liar’s emporium to buy that new swimbait in 10 different colors.

Well, it’s time for revenge. I’m here to expose a few fishing myths and not-quite-true statements I’ve read recently. I’m also including a few tips that could lead someone to conclude that anglers go out of their way to make fishing difficult and to drive us crazy.

Water Temperature: Hot Wind about Cold Fronts

Countless fishing articles bring water temperature into the tale. No doubt it has a major influence on bass behavior. And temperature is easily measured. What modern bass boat doesn’t have a temp gauge? Of course, it measures the temperature where the boat sits, not where bass are. Just a minor technicality, often ignored by high-tech bassers.

From a Q & A column:

“The preferred temperature of largemouth bass is 60-78°F; smallmouth prefer 55-72°F.”

Not far off, but how can you miss when you give almost a 20-degree range? Fishery biologists often state the preferred temperature range of adult largemouth and smallmouth at 77-86°F, and there’s evidence that the smallmouth’s preferred temperature may vary a little between seasons. Optimum temperature—the temperature at which bass are metabolically most efficient and get the most growth from food eaten—can be more precisely defined. It’s about 80° for both largemouth and smallmouth. In other words, bass seem to prefer temperatures that convey the greatest energy gain.

Although there’s a lot of interest in preferred or optimum temperature, what does it really mean? Fishing warmer water during coldwater seasons and cooler water during the summer is a good idea, but are you going to ride around in the late spring or fall seeking optimal 80-degree water?

Preferred and optimum temperature, if available, is where you’ll most likely find bass, but keep in mind that they may be inactive while peacefully digesting to get maximum energy from a recent meal. When it’s chow time, bass go where their prey are, regardless of temperature. I’m not a fish psychologist, but a bass on the hunt should be easier to catch than one on siesta in its ­optimum-­temperature home.

I’ve captured bass by electrofishing for over 30 years. Countless times I’ve had anglers tell me how cool (they often mean unfair) it must be to know where the fish are. Yeah, I confess I’ve slipped back to some of those spots with a more primitive collecting tool and tried to catch them. In only a couple of those situations did I succeed; most often I hauled water.

But the converse is true—I can always collect bass with the electrofisher where people catch them with rod and reel, provided depth isn’t beyond the normal range of the shocker, about 10 feet. The lesson is you can find bass in many places, but they’re catchable in only a few of those.

From numerous articles:

“Water temperature plummeted after the cold front.”

Water cools when air cools, but how much and where are important. I’ve measured temperature change in my shallow (average depth 41⁄2 feet), 3.5-acre pond. On a clear, calm night, an 8°F drop in temperature from dusk to dawn lowers water temperature about 2°F. Temperature drop is considerably less when it’s cloudy, and a 14-degree dusk-to-dawn temperature drop reduces water temperature only 1.5°F. These measured changes likely apply to small, shallow coves or bays. Expect much smaller temperature changes in the main body of a lake or reservoir.

If you want to use falling temperatures as an excuse for a tough bite, use it cautiously in summer. Any cold-front-induced temperature change occurs in the upper part of the water column. Don’t many bass tend to hold in deeper, cooler water in summer? So if bass hold down near the thermocline to find preferred or optimum temperature, shouldn’t a big chill attract them to the shallows? Articles often talk about bass moving to the shallows in late winter or early spring to bask in warmer water. If bass were so good at finding warmer water in spring, shouldn’t they be as good at finding cooler water in summer?