Discoloration in the water.

[FishLaughAtMe]

Fished C5 today from 1:30 pm to 7:00. I started drilling holes on the left side (road side) and the first thing that I noticed was that the water was stained real bad, kinda had the color of tobbacy juice. Kept drilling holes looking for some depth and was working our way south when after about the 6th hole, the water cleared up. Fished in the clear for a bit, then moved back into the cove a little bit and hit the stained water again. The reason that I ask this, is that the last time that I fished C5 was about a week and a half ago and the water did not have the stain to it. Am I wrong and it's always been this way and I'm just loseing my mind?  Oh, we caught a few dink gills and about a dozen crappies, but none were keepers.

[slabslayer]

When the weeds die off they decay and turn the water brown.  They die shallow first, that's why it cleared up deeper.

[FishLaughAtMe]

Thanks. I would have thought that they would have died off alot earlier with the snow cover that we had for such a long time. Guess they can hang on for a long time.

[icebucketjohn]

Also, the influx of road salt will cause the weeds to die off and road culverts inflo will bring muddy water into the rez too will be factors adding to stained water conditions.

[slabslayer]

Yes, John makes a good point too.  The road side of bay C-5 has been brown and turgid for a while.  It was starting to make its way to the middle of the bay, but the melt and rain of week before last was enough inflow of oxygen to rejuvenate the weeds out in the 5-8' depth range.  Otherwise that whole bay would probably be junk and turd brown by now and totally unfishable.  But that influx of oxygen brought the fish back in and saved it.  They had left for a short time before that, for a week or 2 before the warm up nobody was getting anything in C-5.