Not too long after becoming a Shell Knob/Table Rock Lake resident, I smelled something different in the air. It was neither a pleasant or unpleasant smell - just 'different'. I mentioned it to my husband, and he gave me the usual rolling of his eyes. I then had to ask a neighbor about that strange smell in the air, and was told it was just Table Rock Lake turning over???
The lake turning over? Like sure - that makes alot of sense.
The same as turning over in bed? Come on.... wouldn't I have heard something if this huge body of water had actually turned over?
Don't they send out alerts or something? Sounds dangerous. I've lived on lakes before, but had never heard of one 'Turning Over'.
Google didn't exist and there wasn't much of what we now call internet, when I first experienced this, so I just came to accept that at some time in the spring and again in the fall, I would smell this rather fishy scent
around Table Rock Lake.
I have since read that this actually is a common occurance in large and small lakes, where there are four seasons and large temperature changes.
Table Rock has 857 miles of shoreline and covers 52,300 acres. That's over 1.1 trillion gallons of water held and alot of water to turn over!
Seasonal temperature changes are what get the job done. The colder water gets, the heavier it becomes so it sinks to the bottom of the lake, causing the water on the bottom to roll-over to the top. This is a simplistic explanation of a very interesting and detailed process involving thermocline and oxygen, which I wish I had learned more of earlier in life.
When the lake has turned over, it is cloudy for a few days, and most anglers take a few days off from fishing and head to Bass Pro Shop. Chances of catching the big lunker at this time are fairly low.
Call Joan for all your Shell Knob Real Estate Needs 417-846-7128
Tri-Lakes Realtors 417-846-3344
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