LAKE MANAGEMENT

Lake management for a fish population on a 50-acre lake is entirely different from a one-acre pond. A 2016 study on public lakes in Georgia found that the single most significant determining factor in the size of bluegill in an impoundment was impoundment size, followed by phosphorus content of the water. Large impoundments have many inherent advantages over smaller ones, most notably their size. Still, some challenges are unique to larger lakes, such as the fact that any management action taken on the lake, just because of the size of the water body, will cost more than it will on a small pond. We have many years of lake management experience working on larger impoundments, both private and public, up to 300 acres in size; we know what it takes to make an impact on these larger water bodies, what works and what doesn’t, and can get your lake headed in the right direction sooner rather than later.

WHAT IS LAKE MANAGEMENT?

Lake Management.

We talk a lot on our blog about the importance of not making mistakes when stocking a new pond. The magnitude of lake management and stocking decisions is significantly increased on large lakes, simply because unlike a small pond that can be chemically renovated via rotenone relatively inexpensively, a 50- or 100-acre lake will require a small fortune to renovate, and that’s before the cost of re-stocking with fish. Once a mistake is made; generally, it’s there to stay unless the owner happens to have oil fields in his family. More than once, we have worked on lakes over 50 acres stocked by a previous company with a fish that was now causing long-term problems. Ideally, the right management company would be hired the first time and these mistakes avoided, which is why, if you’re embarking on the management of your large lake for the first time, you need to call us. If you’ve been unfortunate enough to hire a company that made your lake worse rather than better, the mistakes can be mitigated; but here again, you have to have a company that knows their stuff making the corrections.

How we manage lakes over time.

Managing a 50‑ to 100‑acre lake is not a one‑time project. It’s an ongoing process of measuring what’s happening in the water and making the right moves at the right time. We use a set of specialized tools to push your lake toward consistently better fishing, instead of just reacting when something goes wrong.

Electrofishing surveys
Electrofishing is the most accurate way to see what’s really living in your lake. We sample your bass and bluegill populations, measure growth, and identify problems such as overcrowding or stunted fish before they get out of hand.
Liming, fertilization, and water chemistry
Where it makes sense, we use liming and fertilization to improve water chemistry for plankton, baitfish, and gamefish so the entire food chain works harder for you.
Ongoing consulting and long‑term planning
To help your lake succeed, we stay involved with periodic check‑ups, catch‑data review, electrofishing when needed, and updated recommendations. We want your lake to keep trending in the right direction every year.

Stocking plans for large lakes
On big water, stocking mistakes are much more expensive to fix. We design stocking plans around the size of your lake, your goals, and the existing fish community so every dollar you spend on new fish moves you closer to the fishery you want, not farther away.
Weed and habitat management
Some aquatic vegetation and structure is helpful—too much can choke a big lake. We balance weed control and habitat work so fish have the cover they need without turning your shoreline and coves into a mess.

Anyone can make claims online.

Be aware that there are companies out there that represent themselves as experts in lake management, when in fact they are anything but; we have come behind more than a couple of these companies, more than a few times, and sometimes their lack of knowledge about basic principles of managing large lakes in the South can be alarming. Often these companies are sending out biologists who were in college a year or two ago to assess your lake; just as you wouldn’t want to have open-heart surgery performed on you by a doctor who was right out of college, you shouldn’t trust someone that green with the future of your lake. Inexperienced consultants will make mistakes, and on a large lake, those mistakes are amplified.

The good news is, when you hire the real experts in lake management in Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, and Kentucky, we can dramatically transform your lake and take it to a level you never thought possible. Some of our greatest successes have come on large lakes.