Summer myths about bass

Bass go deep in summer to avoid warm water?
When bass go deep in summer, they do so for three reasons:
1. They are returning to their home ranges, 2. They seek better light and visibility conditions for predation, or 3. They are following preyfish that move deeper to find more zooplankton.
Low light favors predators. Bright light favors prey. It’s hard to sneak up on something that sees you more clearly. In many lakes and reservoirs, water clears in mid-summer. Shallow fish hunt mainly when light is dim or dark. Bass have less reason to swim up a few feet when they feed in summer.
Most of us have experienced catching bass in the hottest part of the summer within centimeteres of the surface in murky water. Obviously, water clarity, not temperature, determines bass depth. Avoiding warmth isn’t a big factor with bass, They will even swim briefly into water hot enough to cook them if necessary to easily catch prey.

Warm water holds too little oxygen for bass?
Oxygen gets into water at the water’s surface and from vegetation, which needs to be near the surface to get enough light.  If low oxygen is a problem at the surface, the oxygen levels will decrease as you move deeper. In fact, water at 35°C still holds 7 ppm dissolved oxygen. Bass show no ill effects in 5 ppm and won’t move away until oxygen level drops below 3 ppm.

Does the sun hurt the eyes of bass and force them to hide in shade?
If you went out to a clear lake today you likely would see some bass cruising in clear water and direct sunlight. Bass don’t need eyelids to keep their eyes wet, and move their rods and cones in and out of pigments to adapt to different light levels. Moreover, water itself is a good light filter, which cuts light levels rapidly with depth. Bass, in effect, are constantly wearing the equivalent of sun glasses.
Do aquatic weeds provide cool shade?
Weeds provide shade, true, but its not particularly cool. Weeds collect the sun’s heat the same way a dark surface collects heat. Plants appear green because the chlorophyll in them absorbs most of the warmest red and orange light rays. This heat is then passed to the water around the weeds. Unless currents wash away the accumulated heat, water under shallow weed beds is often several degrees warmer that water at similar depths away from the beds. Moreover, the value of shade underwater is exaggerated. The warm parts of the suns rays are absorbed within the top few inches of water.
Bass a few feet down feel less sun warming than you can in a clear swimming pool. Stained water absorbs solar heat faster than clear water, and. 90% of the sun’s heat is gone below 3 feet of pure water (45% in top 1½ ft.)