Fact: Fish are cold blooded, and their body temperature closely follows that of their watery home. And their metabolism — the total of chemical processes needed to keep the fish alive — slows as the temperature falls. As the metabolism slows, less energy is needed on a daily basis.
Myth: Fish feed less often because digestion slows.
Fact: Digestion, like metabolism, slow as the water cools. Fish feed less often not because food stays in the stomach longer but because the circulating energy from the food consumed is burned more slowly. Neither food in the stomach nor an empty stomach has little to do with feeding. Hunger is triggered when levels of energy compounds — sugars or fats — decline in the blood.
Myth: Fish can’t swim fast in cold water.
Fact: Swimming power decreases at temperatures below a fish’s thermal optimum (in the 80- to 85-degree range for most warm-water fishes), but they are still sufficiently mobile to catch prey and any lure you retrieve. Slow retrieves or long pauses might be more effective at triggering strikes, but you can’t reel fast enough for your lure to outswim a fish.
Be the first to comment