Overlooked Waters

Sometimes opportunities don’t stand up and shout. More often, you have to hunt for ’em, and sometimes they’ll surprise you by being right un­der your nose. That’s the way it is with bass fishing and water­shed lakes.

These miniature bodies of water dot the countryside of nearly every state, but many an­glers usually ignore them in fa­vor of bigger and better publi­cized lakes. Yet these little bod­ies of water can provide unbe­lievable bass catches.

I personally love to fish wa­tershed lakes; always have. Watershed lakes are easy to pattern and offer excep­tional big bass potential. They’re the best bass fishing has to offer in a small package. These lakes vary in size, from less than five acres to 1,500 and more, but they contain the same array of struc­ture found in the major reser­voirs: submerged cover, humps, channel drops, points, vegetation and timber to name a few.

It’s important to pay atten­tion to the slightest change in depth. A two- to three-foot drop in a small wa­tershed lake with an otherwise slick bottom is a major struc­ture in that lake. Always re­late the size and amount of struc­ture to the size of the lake, and never overlook seemingly in­significant structure in these lakes.

Speaking of the slightest change in depth, here is an example of the type area where we have located some bass:

Let’s say a very shallow flat-bottom point extends way out from the shore­line with a little cover on it. The depth graduates slowly from two feet at the bank on out to about four feet, then quickly drops off. The break­line is only about two feet, but it’s enough to hold bass. An­other attractive part of this area is a few submerged stumps that are positioned 2-4 feet deep.
While these lakes are small, they really possess the same characteristics as larger lakes. Most of them are located with structure, and like a big body of water, some are productive and some are not.

No doubt about it, watershed lakes make a great training ground for learning more about the habits and habitats of bass.

A great many anglers en­joyed their first taste of bass fishing in a small soil conser­vation lake, ei­ther fishing from the shore or from a small boat. These little lakes are great teachers. Because of their small size, they’re relatively easy to establish a pattern on, so the angler can gain the confidence that only comes from catching bass. Bass are usually easy to locate in these lakes; unfortu­nately, this also makes them prone to being fished out or thinned down easily.

Hundreds of water­shed lakes may exist in a single region of a state. The good part is, you have lots of va­riety; the bad part is, you might pick a lake that’s past its prime. When fishing these lakes, learn to keep a watchful eye on the fish, because their forage and the quality and condition of the wa­ter can vary. Many times you can tell when the lake is out of balance simply by looking at the fish you catch. If I catch a lot of bass and they are all the same size in a older lake, or if I catch any bass with big heads, I can tell quick that something is not right in this lake.

As I stated earlier, there are a lot of good fish produced in wa­tershed lakes, and there are poor ones. Some of the best I’ve fished are those with sea­sonal fluctuation of water lev­els and with a drawdown of several feet. New plant growth takes place along the edge, and in the shallower portions of the upper reaches moss, grass and minute vegetation appears. Then when the lake level rises during late spring rains, this new growth provides excellent forage for bass or all kinds of life, in­cluding bass fry. Tiny micro­scopic organisms gather on the plant, helping to pro­mote rapid growth of newly hatched bass.

Just in case you’re not fa­miliar with the term watershed lake, let me tell you what it is. It’s the land area on which water drains to a given point. It serves two primary functions, flood control and soil conser­vation. On the land, water that does not evaporate or soak into the soil usually drains into ditches, creeks or lakes.

Now if the water runs off the land too fast, it can cut gulleys and carry off precious topsoil, and too much water running too fast causes flooding. Channels become choked with sediment. Naturally choked-up channels carry less water, and the chances of flooding be­come worse.
To combat those problems, small- to medium-size dams were constructed on ditches and creeks prone to flooding, caus­ing the runoff to slow down and erode the soil car­ried with the water to be trapped there. Water­shed lakes, unlike reservoirs, are dispos­able and are built to last a lim­ited lifespan, usually 100 years or less. They are designed to fill up with sediment.

Don’t ever discount these lakes in your quest for a qual­ity bass fishing experience. While fishing a big impound­ment in a comfortable bass rig has its benefits, there is some­thing spe­cial about fishing small waters, and the thousands of wa­tershed lakes nationwide offer a vast, often untapped re­source of bass fishing. Investi­gate the po­tential of a water­shed lake soon—you might just discover that dy­namite does come in small pack­ages.