Difference in Lakes within Close Proximity

[WVU-SCPA]

I have found it interesting reading all the different bodies of water people on the forum fish.  Within 15 miles, there is a wide range of lake conditions.  While they are small lakes compared to lakes discussed on here,  they each have their now unique fish patterns.

 

It hurts the wallet as the bass in each lake tend to enjoy different baits.

 

Anyone else have this fun?

 

Lake # 1

Max depth: 110'

Normal water clarity: 15'-20'

Fishing pressure: Heavy

Main structure: Shelfs, grass, timber

Primary forage: Shad, bluegill, crayfish

Predatory fish: Largemouth, smallmouth, muskie, pike, channel catfish.

 

Lake #2

Max Depth: 26'

Normal water clarity: 8"-12"

Fishing pressure: Heavy for its size (3 tournaments a week)

Main structure: Boulders, rock piles, grass

Primary forage: Shad, bluegill, crayfish

Predatory fish: Largemouth, smallmouth, channel cat, striper, pickerel.

 

Lake #3

Max Depth: 36'

Normal water clarity: 1'-2'

Fishing pressure: Moderate

Main structure: Shelfs, grass

Primary forage: Shad

Predatory fish: Largemouth, smallmouth, channel cat, striper.

 

Lake #4

Max Depth: 30+? No boating

Normal water clarity: 5'-6'

Fishing pressure: Light

Main structure: Grass

Primary forage: Trout and bluegill

Predatory fish: Largemouth, trout.

 

#5 Susquehanna river

All over the place

[Derek1]

That sounds like quite a fishery you have I’m a little jealous. 

[GReb]

I’m jealous. However my wife and wallet are not. Lake #3 is like pretty much everything within 100 miles of me

[buzzbaiter83]

That’s how I feel being between Norris, Cherokee, & Douglas Lakes. 3 lakes and 3 totally different types of bodies of water. 

[everythingthatswims]

You can leave lake #1 alone for me, thanks

[TnRiver46]

Gosh I could write a 400 page novel about all the Fishing spots within 2-3 hrs of knoxville, TN. Don’t know where to start except right near the house 

 

lake #1/raging river (ft loudoun, about 14,000 acres) lots of tournaments (bassmaster Classic 2019). French broad and holston rivers come together to form the Tennessee river just upstream of knoxville. Top end of the lake (where I live) is fast and usually never much above 75 degrees in summer. The Bottom end is usually above 80 sometimes close to 90 in summer and slower but does have much more shallow flats and creeks. There’s grass on the upper end but hardly any on the lower end. This lake is also connected to tellico via a canal, and tellico is also 14,000 acres but vastly different. There is less current and much cleaner water in tellico, more pleasure boats and stumps than anything but can be great Fishing especially for walleye and crappie. 

 

Lake 2: Norris. 30,000 acres (clinch and Powell rivers) Highland flood storage reservoir. Deeeeeeeep and ultra clear, finesse fisherman’s dream. Winter smallmouth heaven, Water moves extremely slow here and there is minimal vegetation 

 

lake 3: Chilhowee. About 500 acres (Little Tennessee river) Tiny mountain reservoir that’s not as deep as it looks. Fast current and gin clear water, lots of big largemouth and smallmouth. Also healthy populations of trout walleye and perch, another excellent winter fishery 

 

lake 4: chickamauga.  36,000 acres. Probably the most popular lake in the US right now, no kidding. It Produced a 15 Lb largemouth a couple years ago , lots of matted vegetation and current. Florida strain stocking program has been going for a decade or more, and it works. It’s Also a very popular crappie lake . 

 

Whats really crazy is that that I left about a dozen great fishing spots off this list that are very close to home. Other lakes like Douglas, cherokee, Watauga, south holston and watts bar are also great Fishing. AND I didn’t even get into the shallow water river fishing 

[BassNJake]

10 hours ago, buzzbaiter83 said:

That’s how I feel being between Norris, Cherokee, & Douglas Lakes. 3 lakes and 3 totally different types of bodies of water. 

 

1 hour ago, TnRiver46 said:

Gosh I could write a 400 page novel about all the Fishing spots within 2-3 hrs of knoxville, TN. Don’t know where to start except right near the house 

 

lake #1/raging river (ft loudoun, about 14,000 acres) lots of tournaments (bassmaster Classic 2019). French broad and holston rivers come together to form the Tennessee river just upstream of knoxville. Top end of the lake (where I live) is fast and usually never much above 75 degrees in summer. The Bottom end is usually above 80 sometimes close to 90 in summer and slower but does have much more shallow flats and creeks. There’s grass on the upper end but hardly any on the lower end. This lake is also connected to tellico via a canal, and tellico is also 14,000 acres but vastly different. There is less current and much cleaner water in tellico, more pleasure boats and stumps than anything but can be great Fishing especially for walleye and crappie. 

 

Lake 2: Norris. 30,000 acres (clinch and Powell rivers) Highland flood storage reservoir. Deeeeeeeep and ultra clear, finesse fisherman’s dream. Winter smallmouth heaven, Water moves extremely slow here and there is minimal vegetation 

 

lake 3: Chilhowee. About 500 acres (Little Tennessee river) Tiny mountain reservoir that’s not as deep as it looks. Fast current and gin clear water, lots of big largemouth and smallmouth. Also healthy populations of trout walleye and perch, another excellent winter fishery 

 

lake 4: chickamauga.  36,000 acres. Probably the most popular lake in the US right now, no kidding. It Produced a 15 Lb largemouth a couple years ago , lots of matted vegetation and current. Florida strain stocking program has been going for a decade or more, and it works. It’s Also a very popular crappie lake . 

 

Whats really crazy is that that I left about a dozen great fishing spots off this list that are very close to home. Other lakes like Douglas, cherokee, Watauga, south holston and watts bar are also great Fishing. AND I didn’t even get into the shallow water river fishing 

I love living in TN !!

[geo g]

Even the same lake will have sections that are far different then other sections of the lake.  Under the same conditions, a certain type of vegetation, a feeder stream, an underwater spring, a protected area from weather changes, a power plant discharge, will sometimes make fishing far different even in the same body of water, regardless of size.  The variables are endless.  It's the fisherman's job to figure it out, for that day, that hour, that minute.

[Catt]

2 hours ago, geo g said:

Even the same lake will have sections that are far different then other sections of the lake.  Under the same conditions, a certain type of vegetation, a feeder stream, an underwater spring, a protected area from weather changes, a power plant discharge, will sometimes make fishing far different even in the same body of water, regardless of size.  The variables are endless.  It's the fisherman's job to figure it out, for that day, that hour, that minute.

 

Toledo Bend Reservoir

Length: 65 miles

Width: 10 miles 

Surface acres: 190,000

Shoreline: 1,264 miles

 

The north end is shallower & off colored 

The mid section is deeper & clearer

The south end is the deepest & clearest 

 

The types of structure & cover is different in all three areas.

 

One can find areas that support any techniques you would like to fish.

 

[Tennessee Boy]

5 hours ago, BassNJake said:

I love living in TN !!

Amen! 

[Paul Roberts]

I've seen plenty of ponds, sitting side by side, that differ enormously in terms of cover, fertility, water clarity... . They fish entirely differently.

[WRB]

Castaic main lake vs Castiac lagoon or after bay seperated only by the width of the dam fish very differently. The Castaic main lake is public use for power boating and water contact sports. The After bay or lagoon is public but restricted to electric powered or manual power water craft no water contact sports. Same water, both over 100' deep with very different bass behavior, the lagoon can be tough and you think it should be easier then the main lake.

We have several lakes within a 1 hour drive and all very different regarding preffered lure presentations, most are deep structure water storage lakes with a few private lakes mixed in. The private lakes are all easy to fish due to low fishing pressure, you from zero to hero quickly!

Tom

[Bankbeater]

On a good day I can pick a pond and fish it and catch fish.  On a bad day I usually hit 4 or 5 ponds that are within a couple miles of each other.  Sooner or later I will find the one where the bass are biting.

[soflabasser]

I live in South Florida where there are hundreds of lakes and have also noticed how different these places can be even if they are very close to each other. One lake can be great for numbers but not many bass over 5 pounds, another lake is low in numbers but I have caught plenty of trophy bass, other lakes have a good balance of numbers of bass and bass over 5 pounds. Best thing you can do is put your time on the water and figure out what the bass want in each lake.

[OCdockskipper]

Mission Viejo Lake was, until an algae bloom a while back, a big fish factory.  80 ft deep, visibility to 20 feet, heavy fishing pressure for Florida strain largemouth that fed on hatchery stocked trout.   You didn't catch a lot, but with numerous DD fish including a lake record over 19 lbs, your PB was always just a cast away.

 

Meanwhile, 5 minutes away is Lake Forest, which looks similiar from the shore.  However it is a completely different animal.  12 feet deep, visibility less than 4 feet with Northern strain Largemouth that feed on bluegill & crawfish.  With nearly no pressure, you will get one or two between 6 - 8 a year, but it is a numbers lake.  25 fish a day is the average, with 50 fish days expected when conditions are right.

[TnRiver46]

2 hours ago, OCdockskipper said:

Mission Viejo Lake was, until an algae bloom a while back, a big fish factory.  80 ft deep, visibility to 20 feet, heavy fishing pressure for Florida strain largemouth that fed on hatchery stocked trout.   You didn't catch a lot, but with numerous DD fish including a lake record over 19 lbs, your PB was always just a cast away.

 

Meanwhile, 5 minutes away is Lake Forest, which looks similiar from the shore.  However it is a completely different animal.  12 feet deep, visibility less than 4 feet with Northern strain Largemouth that feed on bluegill & crawfish.  With nearly no pressure, you will get one or two between 6 - 8 a year, but it is a numbers lake.  25 fish a day is the average, with 50 fish days expected when conditions are right.

And both these places are near you? Wow......... 

[OCdockskipper]

16 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

And both these places are near you? Wow......... 

They are both small (100 or so acres), electric only private lakes, literally surrounded by homes.  For me, fishing Mission Viejo was never enjoyable because you were constantly being crowded and cut off (the lake served thousands of residents).  Lake Forest is a bit of a secret because of the reputation & shadow cast by the behemoths caught in Mission Viejo.  Plus, if you fish Lake Forest incorrectly, you will be lucky to catch 5 for the day, so most folks never believe the numbers I catch until they see me do it.

[TnRiver46]

33 minutes ago, OCdockskipper said:

They are both small (100 or so acres), electric only private lakes, literally surrounded by homes.  For me, fishing Mission Viejo was never enjoyable because you were constantly being crowded and cut off (the lake served thousands of residents).  Lake Forest is a bit of a secret because of the reputation & shadow cast by the behemoths caught in Mission Viejo.  Plus, if you fish Lake Forest incorrectly, you will be lucky to catch 5 for the day, so most folks never believe the numbers I catch until they see me do it.

Sounds quite interesting 

[Mr. Aquarium]

with me, i have a fish certain ways for certain places. let me explain it.  deep clear  i fish a certain way. shallow weedy i fish a certain way. 

 shallow weedy. frogs, lots of topwaters,  weedless weightless plastics, my favorite is fluke baits. flipping pitchin. swimbaits.

deep clear. lots of jigs and bottom crawling soft swimbaits. texas rig plastics and tubes.  some topwaters like spooks and wakes. 
winter blades deep over structure in clear water, all i use. acctually all i have confidence, cant get bit on a  jerkbait to save my life. 

 

those are my confidences baits for those certain types of lakes, im sure theres are better or other baits that i can get fish on in these spots. but its hard putting down my confidence baits.