Air temp vs. Water temp

[Rebbasser]

We get a lot of posts giving the weather forcast-usually cold-asking what to use. While that is good info for knowing what to wear, it really doesn't help with recommendations. Why? Because air temp and water temp, while related, can be vastly different due to the fact that water warms up/cools down much slower than air.

Case in point: I talked to Zooker this morning and he said the air temp was 28 but the water temp was 56. Even with the cold air temps I'd be throwing a spinnerbait, crankbait, C-rig or T-rig because the water is so warm compared to the air. But if I didn't know the water temp I would figure the water was a lot colder than it actually is and might not be as successful as I could be based on that assumption. I think that is a trap a lot of us fall into.

This time of year especially one of the most important pieces of equipment you can have is a thermometer. No need to get fancy-a cheap aquarium thermometer from WalMart will do the job quite well. Tie it on a line and drop it in the water when you get there. When you know the water temp you can choose your baits/tactics accordingly. Just something else to help take some of the guesswork out of it.