One of the critical components of establishing a lake management plan for your lake or pond is to define your objectives. Do you want to develop a trophy fishing environment where the lake is intended to be used often for angling opportunities? Or, is the goal to simply enjoy and protect the natural beauty of the lake and the wildlife in and around it? If the lake is within a residential community, what are the expectations of the residents for the lake? Or, if the lake is an amenity on a corporate office campus, what are those needs? Properly identifying the objectives and expected uses of a lake is a critical step towards determining your lake’s Return on Investment, or ROI.
In most cases, the basic process involved with developing a lake for a trophy fish experience requires continuous, active management of numerous factors. There may be lime and fertilization applications, fish population assessments, or manipulating the population via adding or removing fish. Frequently, additional dollars are spent by lake owners on stocking supplemental bait fish. Still more maybe spent by the lake owner, or even residents directly, on fish feeders or fish habitat improvement. All of these steps are designed to increase the carrying capacity of the lake in order to enhance the angling opportunities, by increasing either the population or the individual size of desirable species (like bass).
Managing a lake solely to preserve its aesthetics does not require the same investment. Any properly maintained lake will offer angling opportunities for someone wanting to “wet a line” without the specialized care needed to grow trophy fish. A youngster will get the same excitement and joy catching their first fish regardless of how big or what kind of fish it is. So as long as the lake is kept healthy, there will be fish to catch. Although managing aesthetics still requires investing money, without attempting to control the fish population—there is a lot less to spend money on.
Without clear goals, the decision makers may be paying for services that aren’t necessary in order to maintain your lake. If you never take steps to control the population and growth of the fish in your lake, then frequent population surveys are superfluous. Why waste money for information you will never use? If recreationalists are only rarely seen fishing on the lake, why spend that much on growing bigger fish? For these reasons, consultations are likely a good investment if only to avoid paying more later. An expert can help balance the needs of the lake versus the expectations of how it is to be utilized.
Your lake is certainly an investment. Lakes can raise the property values around them by providing a beautiful space for recreation, exercise, or merely a wonderful aesthetic. However, like any asset, it can become a financial liability if not properly managed. If you do not identify these important factors, you may end up pouring limited funds down the storm drain.
