Where Do Bass Go After a Mid-Summer Weed Kill

[Michigander]

Over the last two years, I have noticed that lake wide weed kills are starting to be a thing in several of the lakes I fish. Obviously I am not thrilled by chemicals getting poured into my waterways but even worse is that it seems to, at least for me, make the fishing extra difficult.

 

Does anyone have advice for how to be successful on the water when the vegetation has been killed and the fish are likely partly poisoned? I know deer get really confused when the leaves start falling and the landscape looks different, but what do fish do?

[TnRiver46]

Hate to hear this . Way too common all over the US 

[Michigander]

1 minute ago, TnRiver46 said:

Hate to hear this . Way too common all over the US 

Yeah, can't have unsightly weeds for the powerboaters or some nonsense like that...

[BoatSquirrel]

Kill the grass and the bass will make a bee-line for any hard structure.  Wood, docks, riprap, a picnic table...

[Michigander]

Just now, BoatSquirrel said:

Kill the grass and the bass will make a bee-line for any hard structure.  Wood, docks, riprap, a picnic table...

That's what I thought too... 

[BoatSquirrel]

7 minutes ago, Michigander said:

That's what I thought too... 

Hey Michigander-you ever sunk any brushpiles?

[Michigander]

Just now, BoatSquirrel said:

Hey Michigander-you ever sunk any brushpiles?

I have not. But if they keep killing my lakes, I might consider it!

[BoatSquirrel]

Concrete block, sackrete, and corrugated pvc pipe, or tile as yall say in Michigan.  Good luck man.

[Koz]

3 hours ago, Michigander said:

Yeah, can't have unsightly weeds for the powerboaters or some nonsense like that...

That's not always the case. Phase 2 of the EPA's MS4 program is in effect and their are a number of regulations in place regarding stormwater runoff and waterways that includes controlling different types of weeds both in and around the basin.

[MassYak85]

I agree with what others said, find the hard cover leftover in that area. Caught one of my best fish a couple summers ago on and isolated stick in the middle of a section of the lake that had the weeds sprayed. No other immediate cover around at that point other than that stick. 

[lo n slo]

16 hours ago, BoatSquirrel said:

Hey Michigander-you ever sunk any brushpiles?

great call my man ?

[RichF]

I think a lot of bass school up and roam open water, looking for bait, like they do in those weird blue back herring lakes.  The weed kill deal happens a lot in upstate NY waters as well.  Makes things awfully tough, especially for a grass fisherman like myself. 

[Russ E]

I think the type of lake determines where the fish go after a weed kill.

One water supply lake I used to fish was sprayed every summer for weeds. there was no other cover in the lake. When that happened Bass would stack up on rip rap jettys and the dam.

My home lake has curly pondweed that attracts bass in late spring and early summer. It  dies off every year later in the summer. After that the Bass go deeper and hang out in the coontail.

[detroit1]

In Michigan, you are not (legally) able to put anything in the water (brushpiles, xmas trees,whatever). Some people do break the law i'm sure.

[Michigander]

30 minutes ago, detroit1 said:

In Michigan, you are not (legally) able to put anything in the water (brushpiles, xmas trees,whatever). Some people do break the law i'm sure.

Yep, and I don't cross the DNR.

[Team9nine]

The short answer in your case is probably "shallow," but @Russ E brings up a very good point. The type of weed kill will make a difference. In the case of a natural seasonal weed die-off (transition), the fish are just as likely to go deeper as they are shallower. It simply dpeends on timing and the type of water body.

 

In the case of a weed treatment, it depends on the type of treatment. A systemic treatment that may take several weeks or more to eventually alter the growing pattern and effectively kill the plant will have the same answer in most cases as a seasonal die-off; just as likely deeper as shallower. However, in the case of a contact type die-off, basically a burndown that works rather fast, often days, the answer is most likely "shallower." This is because the faster the plant die-off, the greater the oxygen consumption. In most all cases, there simply isn't enough "good" oxygen in the depths after such an occurence. This would also be the case after an algae treatment. The only "good" oxygen left is in the shallows, often 10 feet and less, and all the fish pile up on whatever available cover and habitat is available until mixing occurs and things stabililze out.

 

This is really easy to see on a graph. If you simply spend 10-20 minutes riding around a deeper section of the lake, your graph will tell you how deep the oxygen is acceptable based on how deep you see fish on your graph. As I mentioned, most times this will be 10 ft and less shortly after a good treatment. Over the years I've run my graph enough times in combination with an oxygen probe to prove all this to myself. 

[rtwvumtneer6]

21 hours ago, Michigander said:

Yeah, can't have unsightly weeds for the powerboaters or some nonsense like that...

For me it's the PowerBaiters (trout dough). They seem to get the special treatment, and the bass anglers don't get squat.  I for one enjoy when the vegetation chases them away.  They do a good enough job of messing the lake up in the Spring when the bass want to move up and there's a line out every 10 feet for 8 hours a day.

 

Oh, and yes... Rock, wood, the hard stuff would be where I would look first.  

 

[dgkasper58]

We have quite a few people who contribute to getting their lake front taken care of.  We do not see the immediate die off but rather a slow death and it does not get all the different types of weeds (I have no idea types of weeds or poison they use).  I just know that they put a sign up at the launch that says should not eat the fish for 24 hrs-but do not tell any of the people that live on the lake or at the beach that I am aware of... Are they supposed to make this public knowledge in multiple ways or is the 1 sheet sufficient in ways of the law?

 

As for the fish-  At my lake they only do the people that pay-  So I tend to watch where he goes, and skip those areas and hit up the ones where he did not do several fronts in a row.