Water Temperature below the Surface

Hey Gene, great question about water temperature. In a lot of lakes, the water can stratify based on water temp. The cooler water is always near the bottom. The thermocline is the depth zone where the water temp drops dramatically. On northern lakes, this is the zone where the baitfish congregate in the summer and early fall. You can see the temperature change with your Helix by increasing your sensitivity on your 2d sonar. It looks like a horizontal line across the screen. I've never seen this in Florida lakes, mainly because they are so shallow there the temperature is the same from top to bottom.

However, springs are key in Florida as you rightly mentioned. They can provide warm stable water during cold fronts and cool water in the hot weather. The easiest way to find them using my sonar is by identifying bare spots in the grass beds. Springs don't allow the grass to grow due to the current flow. This leaves a hole/bare spot in the grass that can easily be seen with side imaging or 2d sonar. So when you find a bare spot or open area in the grass mark it with your GPS and concentrate on that area. All bare spots in the grass aren't springs, but they are a great place to start looking.