By Kevin VanDam
Kevin VanDamThe nation is in a severe drought and its affecting the lakes around southern Michigan.
Weve been dealing with falling lake levels and a lack of sufficient rainfall for several weeks now. Farmers are still irrigating heavily and the bottom is falling out of the water table which also affects our lakes. The water table at my house fell 1½ feet over the past week!
In the meantime our fish are losing valuable shallow water habitat. You can still catch some fish shallow, but the bigger fish are still deeper.
Everything is getting stressed and the fish are starting to show it.
I was bluegill fishing last week on the small lake where my dad lives and was stunned as to how skinny the gills were. I cleaned about 35 and every one of them was extremely thin.
All of the bass I caught in Michigan last week were spindly, too. Im not saying all lakes are like this, but Im seeing a consistent pattern across southern Michigan.
Our deep lakes should be getting clearer this time of year, yet they still have a pea green color to them, probably because theres no influx of cooler, fresh water coming in from feeder streams or rain.
On Gull Lake, where you can usually see bottom in 20 feet, visibility is only about three feet deep. You have to get down to 30-40 feet to find concentrations of bass and even those are suspended and scattered.
And boy, the baitfish what is out there is really dispersed because theres less shoreline cover and grass in which they can hide.
The extended summer, which followed an early spring, has predators with a high metabolism and needing to feed more often, but the drought has affected the entire aquatic food chain.
The lack of vegetation in a lot of lakes caused by the drought has limited the amount of cover in which young-of-the-year can hide.
Thats made for an excellent crankbait season, and because a lot of bass are deeper, the Strike King Series 5XD and 6XD have stayed in play longer this year.
Historically, the middle of September is when bass start making fall movements and fish start feeding heavily. I have a hunch its not going to be until October before we see that happen this year.
My point isnt to forecast doom and gloom because Mother Nature has her way of bringing everything back in due time.
However, these environmental factors should influence how you approach these lakes. Id hang onto my deep tactics longer and realize that the fall feed is going to be delayed.
The water temperature is going to drop slower this year and we need cooler nights amidst the shorter days to make that happen.
Look for fabulous fall fishing when the fish do move up. They know they have to feed heavily to get their weight back to carry them through winter.
It will be interesting to see what happens.