In terms of unintended benefits, the tailraces of the nation’s dams have to be pretty high on the list. Built for hydroelectric power generation, flood control, irrigation and municipal water supplies, dams have become an integral element for bass anglers fishing river systems.
As Alabama pro Jimmy Mason point out, water pouring through those massive turbines brings several key benefits.
“The one thing about a tailrace is that when you have that water coming through, it’s like an aerator – it’s highly oxygenated and it’s generally cooler,” he said. “Depending on the time of year, it can be 5- to 10-degrees cooler, but in the summer it can be more than 15-degrees cooler.”
On the flip side, Mason points out that winter typically finds tailrace water significantly warmer than what you’ll find further downstream. Passing through the turbines, the cold water picks up a few degrees of warmth and that’s just enough comfort to interest shivering fish. (For clarity, summer water is already warm, so any heat added by the turbines is nullified by the cooling effect of voluminous movement.) -Written by David A. Brown for Lurenet. (David is a well respected and knowledgeable outdoor writer angler can depend on to get credible information from.)
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