How To Grade Water Clarity
 

I hear people use the terms clear or dirty to describe water clarity all the time but I was wondering if anyone could tell me what is considered clear water. I guess the question is how far does one have to able to see for water to be considered clear, how far is considered medium clarity and how far is considered dirty?

Clear in one area could be dirty in another... every body of water is different.

Ok I'm talking about Big Lake.

If you can see your deployed trolling motor bottom section, the water is clear in BL If you can see the bottom of your popping cork in VB area the water is clear.

^

Lol ok ill go with that answer for now.

to cut through all the subjective veiws of this description I just say it in terms of how far I can see my bait under water, not the color but the point I can make out they shape of it.

every single person has their own idea what the term cloudy, stained, or good water clarity is. I think the only consistent term is "gin clear water" we all picture as crystal clear

Yes that's exactly what im asking is an inch measurement to the point where you can see your lure. That's how I gauge it. I drop my lure in the water and bring it up and make a mental note of how many inches below the water it is when I can just see it. I say 12 inches of visibility in Big Lake is clear water conditions but I wanted to get some people's opinion who have more experience than I do.

As a retired engineer, I try and avoid adjectives/superlatives/descriptors. They don't mean as much as plain old facts.

Water clarity - give me inches or feet that you can see your bait.
Fishing report - how many bites, how big.

When somebody says the water was fairly clean and we had an ok day.....I really have no clue how that translates to my way of thinking. If they say we had two feet of visibility and the three of us hooked X number of fish in four hours then I understand that.

IMO..... fishing in very muddy water [can not see 1" down in the water] for trout is going to be a very slow day.

But sometimes the surface water can be "muddy" but the water a foot down could be much clearer.

To answer your question about water clarity.......

If I can only see a bait 2" to 4" down in the water, it is fairly dirty.

4" to 8" is ok for fishing----- ie. a little dirty.

8" to 12" visability-----water is fairly clear.

12" to 18" I consider this to be clear.

And on Big Lake....... if you can see down 2 feet you are fishing in very clear water.

In 15+ years fishing BL, only maybe 2 times have I been able to see down 3 feet or more in some areas.

One of these trips..... If there would have been a nickle on the bottom in 4 feet of water I would have been able to see it. On one cast I was watching the bait out 30 feet from the boat, then I spotted a ~ 20" Red following a few feet behind but he did not take the bait. Guess he saw my boat. I spotted several Sheepheads that day "tailing" on the bottom feeding.

Thank you for that detailed response Gerald. That's the kind of answer I was looking for!

thats about right lol.

Dont try to test water clarity with anything red in color because u can't see red underwater. If u really want a scientific measurement get a secchi disc

No all I really wanted was people's estimates in inches lol.

I've seen big lake so clear that I could see the bottom of the lake while fishing Long point!

Yes, as far as visibility and communicating with other fisherman go the 'how far down' can I see my lure is about all we need to do.

I caught some trout one day down in Baffin with winds blowing 30 with gusts to 40... the color change was muddy brown on the edge of muddy black mud. Seeing down into the water as compared to up and or across the water column can be much different. What we consider 'gin clear' where we can see clear water in all directions and can seemingly see the bottom in marsh ponds, may only be a foot to 2ft lateral water clarity for the fish. However when there is only a 4-6 inch clarity from above, fish can see a silhouette a good bit below that.

"we forget that trout and reds eat day in and day out, on windy, turbid (aka muddy) water days, eating almost silent, nearly transparent baitfish and shrimp...even sometimes in the black of night" -troutsupport

So would you still say that bait color plays a fairly large role according to water and cloud conditions or are you saying that it doesn't matter a whole lot?

IMO not always specific colors but dark vs light, clear vs opaque, flake vs no flake

check out this link for bait color selection
http://www.texastacklefactory.com/in...d=5&Itemid=111

I agree with Meaux, it's more a light vs dark. Most fish did not get the memo that said color was important. That said, if you find some colors that you have confidence in stick with that. Fishing confidently and precisely will catch fish over switching colors and wondering wonder color they are eating.

last year I fished the Arroyo area in lower laguna... ha, yes, not LA, but it was windy and MUDDY like a lot of LA. Dark skies too. We caught most of our fish on a Rootbeer color and as it was getting darker we ran out and all I had was pearl and clear glitter. We caught fish on both of those too. clear glitter in muddy (highly turbid) water with clouds and sun hitting horizon and getting darker...

I like to have 2 lights and 2 darks with me that I have confidence in. More important to locate fish and be casting in fish.
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