Last Years Drought

What kind of effect do you guys think last years drought will have on this years fishing? I fish in south central ky and fishing was really tough last year, ecspecially on the river tournaments i fished. Do you think the lack or inconsistance of spring rains caused a poor spawn and will lead to bad fishing for a few years to come? I know last year the water fluctuated on barren so bad in march/april that I caught some fish on bed in 14 feet of water. Males had made the beds while water was low, and one hard rain brought the lake up 10ft in less than a week. Wonder if the spawn was even successfull for some fish? Just some questions for thought

I always think that drought years are a possitive for the spawns. Back in the late 80s we had several drought years in a row and the bass in KY and Barkley went absolutely nuts. They were dubbed as the hottest lakes in the southeast at the time. Two factors were contributed: 1) weed growth which gave the fry cover and 2) decreased flow in the lakes contributed to a boom in fertility which enabled the fry to grow at a much accelarated pace. With the fry growing quickly they were larger going into the winter which greatly increased their survivability. Another factor with the fertility was the shad population also boomed serving as the forage bass for the booming bass numbers. The lakes in central KY aren't quite the same as the big lakes but I would think that some of that logic would still work somewhat the same.

to add to that alot of times your bigger fish will spawn in deeper water and if the water came up that quick as long as it didnt wash the eggs away then i wouldnt worry about it........

I know on the Ohio, the shad hatch was tremendous. Unlike the years before where the water was like a yoyo and we had poor hatches. It has allready paid off for me with this past winters sauger run, and I'm taking some nice cats. And at Mcalpine my birds are back that means I'm in business...Chuck

Not a biologist (not even sure if I spelled correctly) but I would think that stable water levels would make more of a difference on the success of a spawn than how high or low the level is.
Time or someone smarter than me will tell.

I read in a magazine a few years ago, can't remember which one it was but it said that when the water level is down for the year; it seems to produce bigger fish. When the water level is up after a spawn it seems to produce more fish. The article mentioned some of the same things that KC stated. If you were to google it you could probably find all the info you wanted. Ryan.