Hot temp + low water=???

[SpeckWick]

With the high temps and dry weather over a good portion of the country, most of our favorite crappie lakes are WAY low for this time of year. My home lake is a good 6 plus feet down from where it should be, though it looks like more to me. Any experts on here know what kind of long term effect these conditions will have on crappie fishing? Fish in general? I'm sure it can't be good. Seems like the young of the year fish would have a tough time surviving predators being that their shallow water brush and laydowns they use to hide in are dry now. And I'm sure that's just scratching the surface.

[john h]

nature in itself is cyclical....there probably wont be any real long term effects unless the lake totally dries up...next year might be plenty of rain and these things always tend to eventually even themselves out

think of it the predators will be having the same problem also...it will effect all the fish not just one species usually

[crappielimits]

Don`t be surprised if it helps the lake. At the least the bait will be easier to catch for predators. This also kills back grass in lakes that need it. Look for slabs come winter. There is plenty of offshore structure in most lakes. If not put some.

[Darrell Baker]

I dont think it will have a log term negative impact on your lake. Here On Weiss Lake in Alabama, we have to deal with the heat and humidity every year and also Alabama Power drops our lake 6 feet every year...it usually is not until December...but it does not seem to have a major effect on the fish. It could help your fish population in the future with both quanity and quality due to the lake not getting as much fishing pressure for the last half of the year. I know there is a lot of fishing pressure on Weiss in the fall, but the low water levels are keeping a lot of fishermen (including the local anglers) off the water!! Maybe this is just wishful thinking...but it could help fishing in the Spring & Fall 2008! See Ya' on the Water!

Darrell Baker
Weiss Lake Crappie Guides
PO Box 778
Centre, Alabama 35960
Tele/ 256-927-2232
Cell/ 256-557-0129
www.weisslakecrappieguides.com

[bttmline]

Personally I beleive this can have a positive effect on some lakes. Due to the low water there will be alot of grass growth in these areas where the insects and larvae will hide and reproduce which in turn when the water levels return next spring there will be more food and structure even if it is just grasses that will diminish in a year or so. I think during this period there will be a spurt of sort in the whole food chains reproduction. Just my thought on this, maybe I am just hoping.
Tim