Affects of drought on river fish

[Hogjaw]

Hey everyone,
I'd like to pose this question to get some thoughts from others. I live in Arkansas and right now we are experiencing a fairly persistent drought. Not as bad as others have dealt with the last couple of years, but as bad as I can remember in my 40 years. The streams I fish are much like the ones often mentioned here by others. The predominate bass species are smallmouth and spotted bass. You can usually float fairly easily well into June but this year it was mid-April. My question to those of you that have dealt with drought over the last few years is this. Have you been able to tell a difference, good or bad, in the quality of fishing where you are at? Fish are much easier to find right now but do you think there are long term affects? I'm very curious to hear what everyone has to say.

[sportsmanfromkc]

Awesome question to ask. What part of Arkansas are you from?

[Hogjaw]

I live in Dover which is west-central AR more or less.

[andystaxidermy]

Here in south ga... we have been in a drought for several years...seems that the first year fishing was great but problem is it is good for fish eating ppl as well and doesn't take long for the resource to be taken advantage of. The river now even with water seem to be almost void of fish that were once so prevalent...so id say enjoy while it last and hope its ur lil secret

[BMP]

Low water fishing can be very easy. My river often gets so low floating is impossible in late summer, and the smallies drop back into winter holes to find enough water for protective cover. They don't avoid current, but rapids and riffles are so shallow big fish stay out of them.

As for long term impacts, yes, low water can be every bit as bad as high water on the survival of fry after the spawn. Years with drought low flows all summer often have almost no recruitment of fry spawned that spring. Several years of low flow consecutively can negatively impact the fishing 4-5 years down the road, as can consecutive years of high flows in spring.

Also, with the quality fish so concentrated, high water temps, and often low dissolved oxygen levels, the fish are easier to stress, and easier to catch if you can avoid spooking them. That combination can mean fishing pressure can have more impact on mature fish, although usually if the river is drought low, fewer people want to go on a paddle trip, err I mean hike, down the river.

[Hogjaw]

Good information guys. I agree with people having a negative affect on the population. Luckily there are few access points on the stream that I like to fish and I rarely see anyone on the creek other than the swimming holes at the access points. The biological aspects are what concern me the most. I almost feel guilty going after these fish when they can stress easily. I try and rotate to different sections or different bodies of water as much as possible. Kind of like crop rotation LOL! Fry recruitment was also a concern. Most years we have enough rain and the creeks are near flood stage during the spawn. I always felt this had a negative impact. This year with low and stable levels I thought might be more beneficial for a good spawn. But then again, with all these fish being concentrated....well we know what that means. Survival of the fittest.

[Jeff Little]

The big ones do just fine. I think all of them do. They instinctively know not to get trapped into pools with limited hunting range. Rock gardens that they spawned in are fine in spring when they can up and leave whenever. But if they got stuck in a pool that is sealed off at top and bottom without enough things to eat, they would not to well. You find them in the longer pools, particularly at the tails of those pools as they close off into a riffle. They will be at the heads of them too, but the tails seem to have produced the best ones for me over the years.

[Snyder80]

The main body of water I fish becomes very difficult to fish effectively in low, clear water. There are a few places where the fish will concentrate, but, for the most part, they are scattered here and there.

I was just out this past Saturday and I can see the fish in featureless water from, in some instances, twenty yards away. As soon as the yak is even remotely close they bail. I'm just learning to do this from a kayak but it's getting frustrating.

Any tips?

[SWMO]

The biggest difference I've always noticed in unusually low water levels is the size of the fish. As the cover gets scarce the bigger fish head to deeper water holes and cover, which makes it hard to get past the dinks that are crowed into less water.