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NO FISHING - WINTER - SALT


watatoad

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Woder if it will make 'em taste salty?

 

hehehe...so we just need some vinegar...hehehe

From a spark a fire will flare up

English by birth, Cockney by the Grace of God

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I'm not certain as to the science but I do know from experience that fish will feed well in floods caused by rain, but they certainly rarely do so when melted snow gets into the water.

 

Possibly the worst time to have a few days off is when the rivers are full of "snow broth" and the stillwaters remain iced over.

 

Small, shallow stillwaters tend to freeze over first, but on the other hand they tend to thaw out first. It takes a lot of energy to melt the ice, but as soon as it does so the water temperature rises very sharply. Perversely this doesn't always lead to good fishing on shallow waters. Maybe the temperature rise is too fast for the fish to acclimatise?

 

Has anyone else noticed this?

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Small, shallow stillwaters tend to freeze over first, but on the other hand they tend to thaw out first. It takes a lot of energy to melt the ice, but as soon as it does so the water temperature rises very sharply. Perversely this doesn't always lead to good fishing on shallow waters. Maybe the temperature rise is too fast for the fish to acclimatise?

 

Has anyone else noticed this?

 

 

Yes Ive noticed this to but it makes no sense as when shallows in bigger waters warm up fish are more than happy to move into them!

And thats my "non indicative opinion"!

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I think it would be wrong to compare saline conditions of the Lower Rivers compared to a influx of whatever salt/grit and other nasties that are flushed into our rivers, as most fish keepers will know any sudden change in water condition can be the problem, so a slow thaw please.

 

Exactly.

 

Even though from an anglers perspective it is the sudden influx of cold water that causes the most problems (it seems we are all pretty much in agreement with that?) I thought it was the "salt" we were discussing here. Even if the stuff isn't toxic as such I think just the fact that its yet more material suspended in the water (which affects gill efficiency) is enough for it to have an effect.A lower efficiency at a time when a lot of un oxygenated water is being put into the environment as well.

 

Road "run off" from just rain has been shown as not being good for aquatic life and any form of increased run off/drain off from any land is also going to mean increased chemicals etc.

 

I don't think its wise to just casually disregard it.Even if it doesn't have a direct effect on fish it cant do the aquatic environment any good even if the resulting extra volume of water does push it through quicker.

 

In fact if I remember the person who posted about this said that the actual "grit" used is in fact Rock Salt (which Im sure most know any way) but the problem (chemically) with the run off was other "nasties" from exhaust deposits/stuff in the Tarmac (?)? Was it you Steve Walker?

Edited by BUDGIE

And thats my "non indicative opinion"!

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Exactly.

 

Even though from an anglers perspective it is the sudden influx of cold water that causes the most problems (it seems we are all pretty much in agreement with that?) I thought it was the "salt" we were discussing here. Even if the stuff isn't toxic as such I think just the fact that its yet more material suspended in the water (which affects gill efficiency) is enough for it to have an effect.A lower efficiency at a time when a lot of un oxygenated water is being put into the environment as well.

 

Road "run off" from just rain has been shown as not being good for aquatic life and any form of increased run off/drain off from any land is also going to mean increased chemicals etc.

 

I don't think its wise to just casually disregard it.Even if it doesn't have a direct effect on fish it cant do the aquatic environment any good even if the resulting extra volume of water does push it through quicker.

 

In fact if I remember the person who posted about this said that the actual "grit" used is in fact Rock Salt (which Im sure most know any way) but the problem (chemically) with the run off was other "nasties" from exhaust deposits/stuff in the Tarmac (?)? Was it you Steve Walker?

 

very interesting point Budgie

 

Does anyone know why and if the nasties increase with snow as opposed to heavy rain, I have to admit it is rather puzzling to me.

 

I am beginning to suspect secret and possibly illegal dumping as some areas appear from reading posts over a few years to suffer more than others and am beginning to wonder if some companies take a chance to save a few bob.

From a spark a fire will flare up

English by birth, Cockney by the Grace of God

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very interesting point Budgie

 

Does anyone know why and if the nasties increase with snow as opposed to heavy rain, I have to admit it is rather puzzling to me.

 

 

I presume with snow the exhaust muck builds up over the period the snow lies either on the road or beside it. Also the grit and other chemicals chucked onto the road build up also as the drains do not really get going until all the snow and ice beside the road melt. This will allow it all to arrive quickly.

 

With heavy rain its more of a constant flow and on a daily basis.

 

I think in the past with the run off getting into the rivers much more slowly it had less affect.

 

John

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I guess snowflakes have a larger surface area than water droplets, so could provide a substrate on which solid particles of polution ie soot could accumulate. Also, snow is made of something like 90% air? so I guess it could trap gaseous pollutants, and then maybe absorb them more effectively because they'd be trapped in bubbles in the thawing snow. I wonder if snow has a filtering effect on the air mass it falls through? Also, the fish's metabolism would be slower due to the temperature decrease associated with snowmelt, so perhaps they cannot deal on a cellular level with the increased salt concentrations in the environment, due to their decreased ability to actively remove/deal with the extra salt. This is all ofcourse supposition...

 

I wonder if freshwater fish in brackish waters have adapted to the salinity by increasing the ion content of their tissues, by regulating the amount excreted by the gills.

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I don't think salt itself has any actual affect on fish when snow melts and the run-off enters the river. Cold water, low oxygen levels and suspended particles are the real problems I reckon.

 

If you look at where most rivers are, I doubt any salt gets into most stretches, and those stretches by roads must only get tiny amounts. After all, it doesn't just all suddenly turn to liquid and drain straight into the nearest river.

Edited by Anderoo

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I don't think salt itself has any actual affect on fish when snow melts and the run-off enters the river. Cold water, low oxygen levels and suspended particles are the real problems I reckon.

 

If you look at where most rivers are, I doubt any salt gets into most stretches, and those stretches by roads must only get tiny amounts. After all, it doesn't just all suddenly turn to liquid and drain straight into the nearest river.

 

But the salt dissolves in the water and then drains into the rivers in the runoff, alot of it will therefore end up in the river systems via points close to roads/urban areas. It's possible that salt would get into rivers much easier than suspended particles, seeing as particles could be filtered out by vegetation, soils etc but not dissolved salts? The salt mustn't be good for the land surounding the roads either. Think of the tonnage of salt used in some basins?

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