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Hey TY,
In another thread you mentioned that there's still about two feet of ice on the lake which will make for a much later ice out than usual if current weather trends hold. Given the ice thickness and a significant snow pack on top inhibiting light penetration it looks like conditions are right for a bad winter fish kill this year.
What has been your experience in the past with conditions like these ?
Thanks,
Dan
I've only seen one really bad year when it comes to winterkill. We had the same conditions that year as this year but the water level was about ten feet below normal pool. Right now with just guessing I would say the Chip is about four feet low. If the lake level gets too much lower there might be more winterkill. Than normal but that will only be in the more basin areas with no current.
Does the weed growth come in lighter and later with thicker ice/more snow? I would guess the crappie spawn will be closer to normal this year compared to last year. Seemed like last year was almost 2 weeks early? It was here for sure. I had my boat in the water last year on March 17. We have more than 2 feet of ice right now. I will be up May 16-19 to chase crappies
The two areas I have seen major fish kills over the past 55 plus years are Crane, Crystal, and Tyner. This year will have the potential for a kill but we will just have to wait an see how much more cold weather we have. Right now things aren't warming up fast enough for me. Think spring.
Scott, it's hard to say on the weed growth. Water clarity, wind, sunlight penetration, and water level all play into weed growth.
Ernie, Crystal might be in trouble this year with winter kill. We fished it mid winter for crappie and all the fish were just below the ice. Not good and we didn't catch one keeper. Even the perch were just below the ice in twenty five feet of water.