Water Clearity

Please discuss water clarity, such as how far down can you see in Dirty water, decent colored water and clear water? What do you look for? Thanks

There are many folks on here that are more knowledgeable than I am but I'll share what I've seen and learned. FYI, I have an aluminum trolling plate that sits horizontal like a cavitation plate when not trolling.

Clear is somewhat simple as it's a very clear view of my trolling plate. You can see the details of your prop in clear. Green tinged water is good fishing. Can still easily see plate. A slight brown tinge is ok for me with lower visibility of plate. If I can't see the plate at all as the water is muddy, I have had bad luck. Last spring was like that and I was only able to pick up a few fish near the surface around the islands when it was sunny. Had to run over past Huron to find green water.

Fish will also concentrate sometimes where different color waters overlap. Lure color can be very important based on water clarity and sunny vs. cloudy.

I suggest checking out slimshady's website for specific lures, descriptions and optimal usage. Mike has an awesome selection of custom painted bandits and he also has several excellent instructional articles on his site......Slimshadycustoms.com

Hope this helped you. I have learned a lot from the captains and many other experienced folks on this site. Thanks to all who continue to share your knowledge .

Don

Don pretty much covered water clarity well.Early in the season the best color water to fish in is the greenish tinge.The fish prefer that over clear water because the dirty water is warmer than the clear water.You can even catch fish in brown colored water with cranks.As Don said, if you can still see your cavitation plate, you can still catch fish.But if so dirty that you can't see your cavitation plate, would be best to find cleaner water.You should keep an eye on the satellite pictures if cloudless enough to get a recent pic of Erie.I used to use the NOAA modis picture.But they changed their format recently and have poor quality pictures.Im going to use zoom earth going forward.As Don said,keep an eye out for edges of water clarity.The fish use these areas to ambush bait.Even a muddy river emptying into cleaner water has produced well for us at times.

Great tip on Zoom Earth Bob, thank you!

Great tip on Zoom Earth! the HD satellite view is fantastic!

i think i got that zoom earth tip from Sherman. So thanks Sherman.

Or Richard