The Toilet Bowl Theory

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Sam Ubl
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The Toilet Bowl Theory

Unread postby Sam Ubl » Sat Mar 06, 2010 9:39 am

An acquaintance of mine, Jason Long, has talked about his "Toilet Bowl Theory" relating to wind-driven lake current. That said, the question of whether or not one can use this theory to their advantage by predicting target areas that should be holding musky as a result.

Have you ever been on a semi-round lake on a windy day? Take a look at the weeds if you ever are, and notice they point in a direction other than North. . . Why is that? Think about a NE wind pounding into the NE shore. Assumably, since the wind is out of the SW, this will push the lake current counter-clockwise. Now you understand the Toilet Bowl Affect.

Why is this important?

Whether you fish shallow or deep, musky use current to their advantage, whether that be resting, hunting or both. Given, musky ARE originally river fish, so they instinctually base their position and movement off of it.

That said, revert back to the previous wind example. We have counter clock-wise lake current now that's strong enough to bend the weeds and if you were to blow bubbles through a straw under the surface, they would carry in that direction. Because very few fish, if any, like to position in blatant current, they will usually find a structure where slack water or an eddie is formed. Not only do these types of areas provide game fish (muskies) a comfort zone to lay in rest, that comfort zone is saught after by forage fish (panfish, minnows, etc), too.

What kind of structure am I talking about? Well, to imagine it easily, think about a stream with a boulder in middle of it. . .

Relating back to a lake, if this toilet bowl theory holds true, one could imagine that a slide bar, point or down tree jutting from shore would provide an eddie pool and slack water behind it. NOTE: you can't physically see the current in a lake like you can a river, you just have to read the wind and lake structure.

So what about basin dwellers? Assuming this theory holds true, what then do the fish out deep do? While we're still in theory mode here, could we safely assume that perhaps the current becomes uncomfortable for suspending in open water and force fish onto structure?

Image below shows an example - but what are some thoughts on this?
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Re: The Toilet Bowl Theory

Unread postby dan » Sat Mar 06, 2010 11:17 am

Interesting... I would assume when muskie are using structure on a calm day, boat drift would dictate the likely side of the structure the fish would likely be hanging in wait...
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Re: The Toilet Bowl Theory

Unread postby Sam Ubl » Tue Mar 09, 2010 2:01 am

More than likely, yes, but on a calm day, fish location becomes a little less predictable. I think I'll start a thread on using Barometric Pressure to your advantage - another hint towards predictability.
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Re: The Toilet Bowl Theory

Unread postby adrenalin » Tue Mar 09, 2010 2:33 pm

If your theory holds true you would have to factor both surface and subsurface currents. I don't know if I buy the whole toilet bowl effect. My thoughts would be if you have a north wind the water from the south end of the lake would roll under and back to the north end. I also think the wind driven current would be far greater than the subsurface current and only effect the top few feet of the water column. The subsurface current would probably be less than 1/4 mile per hour. The depth of the lake and bottom contour would all affect the speed of the current though. The easiest way to tell if you had mass water movement would be to use a temp probe deeper in the water column. After a prolonged wind from one direction you should notice the thermocline rise or fall indicating a subsurface current.
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Re: The Toilet Bowl Theory

Unread postby Sam Ubl » Tue Mar 09, 2010 3:04 pm

There is the upflow effect, where surface water gets pushed to the windblown shore and the deeper, cooler water from below replaces it on the lee side of the lake. Use a temperature gauge to pinpoint deeper, cooler return flow currents. . . Pay attention to wind direction throughout the day and you should have some insight as to where to find these upflow spots.

It's fair to say current concentrates fish, whether it's a strong one of not - remember, what's weak to us may feel different to a fish that lives it, but it's not necessaraly how the fish are relating just to the movement of water, so you bring up a great point. Temperature is a huge factor. If the warm surface water is being blown to the windblown shore, depending on the water temps during the time period, perhaps the replacement of that surface water with the cold water from below may very well bring baitfish higher, thus, the musky won't be far behind. You do mention rise and fall of the thermocline, and I'll be honest, it will take more than a day of a solid wind to make any fluctuation at best.

You mention the reality of how deep the current can actually travel. . . As a general rule of thumb, the greater the velocity of the subsurface current, the deeper the current will travel into the water column. But thinking more about the upflow effect of the warm surface water being pushed towards the wind blow shoreline. Cisco stay down around the thermo cline in deeper lakes during the dog days of summer, but when a cold front moves through and that warm upper layer of water is pushed one direction or another, the new oxygen rich and cooler under layer would replace it. With the motive of schooling ciscos moving up in the water column at this time, perhaps try throwing a Dbl. 10 or weighted suick out in the basin, as well as seeking out current interferences - slide bars and volcanoe humps. Either way, paying attention to the wind direction seems to point the royal finger towards predictable locations.

Jason Long talks about the toilet bowl theory as though it's a conveyor belt. . . moving the baitfish and musky (and all other fish) to the leeward sides of structure, like humps. . . Kind of an interesting theory.
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