WHY WATER CLARITY DETERMINES PATTERNS
by Don Wirth
Two recent crappie trips to different lakes brought home the fact that crappie are highly adaptable creatures. On one outing, we fished a crystal-clear, super-deep lake. On another, we tried a shallower, murkier lake. We caught plenty of quality fish on both trips, but it struck me how more than any other factor, the color or clarity of the water in each lake played a huge role in determining both the location of the fish and the methods we employed to catch them.
So we asked several veteran fishing guides to comment on the role of water color in determining crappie patterns. The information that follows should help clear up what may have been a murky area inhibiting your understanding of the habits of our favorite game fish.
Factors Determining Water Color
Guide Jim Duckworth is on the lake more than 300 days a year. He knows
water color is a major factor that impacts crappie location and habits.
He lists six factors that can affect the clarity of the lake you're fishing.
Run-off From Terrain - "Lakes lying in lowland agricultural areas tend to get muddy after a hard rain due to run-off from creeks and ditches carrying soil particles into the lake," Duckworth says. "Lakes lying in upland areas may not be subject to a high level of soil erosion due to the surrounding terrain being more rocky."
Fertility - "A 'fertile' lake has a high amount of plankton, which gives it a greenish hue," he says. "Some waters, especially phosphate pits, are so fertile that the water apears as green as pea soup. An 'infertile' lake has less plankton in the water and therefore is clearer."
Decay - "Some lakes are moderately clear but tea-colored," Duckworth explains. "This hue is often due to decaying vegetation or wood."
Weeds - "Lakes with lots of submerged vegetation tend to be clear because the weeds filter out suspended particles from the water," he adds.
Seasonal Factors - "Algae productivity changes with the seasons," Duckworth notes. "If a lake turns green in midsummer, it's because of an algae bloom. Algae can also be brown or red-orange, which can impact the water color accordingly. Many lakes with a green color in hot weather become significantly clearer in the late fall and winter when algae productivity declines."
Wind and Current - "Areas of a normally clear lake can become muddy when winds create waves that wash soil and nutrients into the water," he suggests. "In a river or river-run reservoir, the lowere end of the system may be clear until run-off originating in the upper end is carried downstream by current."
Biologists use a device called a Sechi disk to measure water clarity. But as a good ol' boy from Alabama told me, "Crappie fishin ain't rocket science." So for the purposes of this discussion, let's call water witha visibility down to 15 feet "stained", 3 feet "murky" and 1 foot or less "muddy".
