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Apr 17^th, 2026 at 7:25pm (UTC)

QuietJourney Forums › Boundary Waters / Quetico Discussion Forums › Fishing Tips for the BWCA and Quetico › Post Reply ( Re: Too early for lake turnover? )

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Topic Summary - Displaying 4 post(s). Click here to show all

Posted by: HighnDry
Posted on: Oct 12^th, 2015 at 7:39pm

Quote

Magicpaddler wrote on Oct 9^th, 2015 at 1:07pm:

I do not believe fall turnover occurs until the water temperature gets below 40 degrees. How cold was the water?

I did some research on this from the DNR website as I remember more than a few posts on lake water temps for turnover from this forum. The DNR lists the tipping point as 39 degress Fahrenheit. We definitely didn't have those temps --- probably upper 50s to 60 degree water maximum temps.

In contrast, I was just on Snowbank, Disappointment and water temps were fine and fish were biting

so I think the problem fixed itself.....starting to think "portable fish finder again....."

Posted by: Magicpaddler Posted on: Oct 9^th, 2015 at 1:07pm	Quote
I do not believe fall turnover occurs until the water temperature gets below 40 degrees. How cold was the water?

Posted by: Old Salt Posted on: Oct 8^th, 2015 at 8:09pm	Quote
Those lakes are fished out. It happened shortly after the Belgian birch bark beetle infestation ruined the habitat. Sorry, we thought everyone knew...

Posted by: HighnDry
Posted on: Oct 8^th, 2015 at 6:39pm

Quote

I am posting this question because I think that at least along the Gunflint (bwca) that last week was too early for turnover. A paddling friend and I decided to hit Canoe Lake (East Bearskin EP) via Alder. We basecamped starting last Friday, the day that patchy frost hit that part of the bwca. Temps warmed to 50s during the day and went down to mid/upper 30s during the nights. We saw a lot of mist /fog rising off of our lake (Bearskin was fogged in when we put in Fri. AM) just about every morning.

We fished Canoe, Alder, Crystal, East Bearskin and a few smaller lakes in between. No luck. Not even a bit! We emptied our tackle boxes: spinners, jigs (plastics and minnows), spoons, deep divers, trolling raps, floating raps...everything. We didn't even see fish rising.

We finally theorized that the cold snap must have put the fish in a "wait-and-see" mode where they were not biting -- at all.

Any thoughts? Did we miss something?

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