I am anxious to discuss Heavyhounds question on fish in weeds… Why? From what little I know about Thornapple, doesn't this happen mid summer there?

Also would like to discuss this whole thing on temperature. Temperature may not be "important" to the muskie, but it seems to be important to it's food. Why is it important for it's food. Is the food driven to warmer/cooler water for spawning or is it because it's food is drawn to an area due to temp???

For example in the spring, are the muskies drawn to the warmer water because they are seeking ideal spawning temperatures

or

Phytoplankton is more present in warmer water, zooplankton follows phytoplankton, planktivorous fish follow zooplankton, piscivorous fish follow planktivorous, etc.?

So with your question, you are essentially saying a big fish wouldn't do this?

"Will Schultz" said:
[quote="Chasin50"]So with your question, you are essentially saying a big fish wouldn't do this?

There are always exceptions but big fish tend to move when conditions are right/best.

To expand on this topic…
The two points mentioned by heavyhound are really just comfort and low light.
Comfort is a factor anytime we're talking fish behavior. If the shallow movement is related to oxygen levels then the fish will remain there until an envoronmental change occurs. If the shallow movement is related to temperature, again they'll remain until an envoronmental change. When discussing these hypotheticals we're also assuming little or no fishing/boating traffic because regardless of temp or oxygen danger from above moves fish.

If the shallow movement is due to low light conditions for multiple days we could also assume that we'll find some of these fish there on the first day of bright sky but they'll be migrating away from the shallows quickly.

Chad brought up something similar in another thread here in the structure fishing forum. The short answer is NO, I wouldn’t target the fish in their sanctuary unless they were the last resort because they’re inactive. I would fish shallow to deep hoping to find active fish along the way but I wouldn’t start with those fish and wouldn’t concentrate on them. If I’m over the deep water sanctuary and I’m seeing fish suspended on my graph, I’m going to spend some additional time on those fish. This is where the book gets tricky and since a musky doesn't always act like a bass we need to adjust what is stated to the species we're targeting.

When fishing deep, if you are casting, in most cases you have to slow down. Some jigs have plenty of weight to be fished fast, fishing a jig doesn’t have to be a slow presentation. Deep cranks are another way to reach most fish and many of them can be burned and get down 12’ on a cast. For the really deep stuff you’re going to have to troll or jig (jump lure).

Ok I have not read the book. But, I have seen and caught fish pretty shallow, in the weeds and the warmest water in the system in July and August. Most if not all of the prefered forage is in the form of ciscoes and suckers in the channel, over a mile away. They tend to show up in the late afternoon on calm, warm sunny days. These fish are very catchable and will slam a big spinnerbait as soon as you drop it on their head. Why are they there? There's not much food compared to elsewhere. Does anyone buy into the theory that they are there because warm water aids in digestion, like a snake? They've had herring shaped lumps occasionally but not always.

"Will Schultz" said:
Also, DO levels combined with water temps can put fish in strange places. We need to remember comfort is very important, sometimes shallow is more comfortable than deep.

Here's what I can add to this, from a chemist's perspective*:

1. Warm water can hold much less dissolved gas than cold water. We've all seen this when we open a warm beer; the gush of gas is much more pronounced then when opening an identical beverage out of the ice chest. The difference is that in the warm container, much of the gas (CO[size=75]2[/size] in this case) comes out of solution and is in the head-space at the top of the container. It dissolves into solution when the liquid is cooled.

2. Dissolved gases diffuse (relatively) slowly in a liquid solution. So, as you go deeper, DO content will typically decrease. Thermoclines also reduce the mixing of higher-O[size=75]2[/size]-content surface water with deeper, low-O2-content water.

So, when the water's warm, the DO content will naturally be lower than it is when the water's cold. So, where will the DO content likely be highest in warm water? In the shallows or near the surface, where wave-action is most efficiently mixing air into the water. So if a muskie is looking for a breath of fresh air, he might seek the shallows, even when the water's warm.

*(YMMV! There is no warranty to these statements, either expressed or implied…. All the above is purely hypothetical, but it makes sense to me to explain these apparent contradictions of fishy behavior.)

The calm days during stable conditions do seem to be better. Easier breathing, warm comfortable temps 70-80 degree surface, the possibility of something edible swimming by AND thick green cover to the surface in 8-10 fow. Excellent. I got it. Sorry if this got off topic. Thanks for the insight.

Duh. The topic was "shallow weedy flats", wasn't it. Bonus.