It is a suspending bait but will make it to the bottom in 25 feet or less. These fish are moving up and down with thermocline. I caught some on the bottom and some nearly on top near the boat. They only feed for about an hour or so after sunrise. Little to nothing in their guts. They are basically just hibernating in these holes to survive the winter.
tell us about them "moving up and down with the thermocline."
how does that work in a creek?
i am sure the trout are seeking optimum water temps but i dont think a thermocline is in play or at least what i thought was a thermocline.
to me a thermocline is a layer of water so dense (with large temp differences) it shows on your depth finder and below which there is no oxygen.
that's just splitting hairs though. Good that you have them figured out.
what he said! That's the reason these fish stay in deep holes. It typically won't get cold enough to kill them there. I asked a fisheries biologist why the trout don't stay in deep holes around the inlets and he explained that it takes too much energy to swim the current and not enough bait in the winter. Also, these fish will spawn in the creeks before going back to the ocean this spring.Prob not. Seems like the cold stuns happen after several days of very cold temps mixed in with cold run off from melting freezing precipitation.
i am afraid that they are dying per my nuese river friends.
Yup....they all dead!! Lol...you could walk across the boats today. About as good as you get right now!!