water clarity and weeds?

[rosspj59]

I was fishing a north metro lake this weekend and noticed some of the weeds I snagged were brown already. There was also some weed growth detaching from the bottom and floating away with the wind. I am wondering if the deeper weeds die off first when the water cools or the shallow weeds? This would be in reference to lakes where the water is stained with algae and lakes with little depth like Pokegama, East Rush, Peltier, Centerville, etc. Does the water clarity cause the weeds in deeper water to die first due to lack of sunlight from the stained water? Or do the shallow weeds die first due to cooler water? Maybe there is a combination of both. I am thinking that the fish will be closest to the greenest weeds, but I would like to pattern where the greenest weeds might be. I don't have an underwater camera yet so maybe someone who does may have noticed a pattern or observations in reference to the weeds and fish location? Thanks for any input.

[CrappieJohn]

If weeds are growing, they have adequate light, so clarity is not really an issue. You ask about cooler water temps perhaps causing this: I think quite the opposite is happening. We have had a HOT summer and water temps in many areas have been higher than heck for a sustained period of time. While weeds are tolerant of some degree of extreme, maybe too much heat has been a factor here.

Will dead and decaying weeds stain the water? Yes if a large die-off has come about. I think we get more color in most waters though from either run-off or tannic acid from decaying tree leaves.

[rosspj59]

Thanks for the reply CT. Hope you had a nice trip up north! Great to see your back on the keyboard.

[BDR]

Some of the lakes may have been sprayed for curly pondweed. And that weed does also die off early. Look along the deep edges and you may find some patches of coontail or cabbage that the fish will be near. East Rush is a good example, lots of dying pondweed. when you do find some other types usually deeper they can be fish magnets.