Have always wondered

[Fishyfanatic]

My parents live in a house that is surrounded by a lake (about 25 acres of lake). When I mow their grass down by the lake I always see fish that are laying on their sides in the shallow portion. When I drive by them they flip over and swim away. Does anyone know why fish lay on their sides in the shallow end? Are they sun tanning? When I say shallow, I mean water that is about 6 or 7 inches deep . This has always perplexed me and was curious if anyone knew why fish did it.

 

[Jermz79]

Soakin up the rays my friend, soakin up the rays 8) 8) ! No really ... I don't know? That is odd :? ???

 

[Toirtis]

Could be that they are warming up, or, depending on the species, waiting to ambush smaller fish that frequent the shallows.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

It seems to be the larger fish that do it. Or maybe I only notice the larger ones because the smaller ones have plenty of room to lay on their sides. I see it alot with grass carp and bass. The cove that I mow the most frequently is where the grass carp like to "hang out". Of course I also notice plenty of turtles basking in the sun. But that's normal. It's just the fish doing it seemed odd to me.

 

[Toirtis]

Pike do it all the time...warming up and looking for food (they love ducklings).

 

[deli_conker]

Bass like to warm up also. I tried finding some resources about this yesterday on some fishing sites, but couldn't find anything worth posting in the time I had to look. They do it while the lake is "turning over". It has to do with the temperature of the water where the cold water and the warm water try to trade places. It makes the fish go places they normally wouldn't.

When I was a kid, we would fish the shallows of the lakes/ponds in our area when the fish were turning. It was a lot easier to catch the big ones that way.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Ahh, that makes sense Deli. The water is alot warmer in the shallow end than in the middle of the lake where it's 30 feet deep. They usually swim away when I mow by them and the next strip around they are back in their spot. LOL You'd think they would wait until I was done mowing. I guess that would explain why there are usually more fish caught in the coves than in the middle of the lake.

 

[sdellin]

No, no, no! That's not the reason. You guys don't know what you're talking about.

They do it simply to perplex the humans. They're laughing at you because they know you're out here on AA trying to figure it out!