I understand the reservoir concept when we're talking "down south" but what about here in Michigan?
At the DK open Dan told us at the launch that Lake Ovid fished like a reservoir. What does that mean?
The Portage chain near Pinckney, the Half Moon chain, and even Kent Lake are all the result of Dams. Do they fish like a reservoir?
What's the diff. between lakes and reservoirs, and how does that affect the way I approach them?
first and foremost, if you are fishing a reservoir get a good map! look for the old river channel and concentrate most of your efforts here. Also the inlet areas are not to be overlooked, especially early season, as this is usually shallow water and warms up first.
Generally, reservoirs will have current which will position fish in "high percentage" areas, like channels, channel bends, etc.. Because reservoirs were, at one time, a creek or small river prior to being dammed, there will be stumps, laydowns and other cover that were lining the banks of these creeks. Once flooded, this cover will act as current breaks which will allow fish to maintain there position in the current with little effort, and they can sit and wait for bait to come their way. If you can find one lone stump, offshore, on a bend or channel edge, you could find a gold mine...You can also break a reservoir up into three areas, the upper, middle and lower sections. Typically, the upper section is shallow and off color, the middle section, somewhat deeper and clearer, and the lower section (near the dam) the deepest and clearest of the three.
Well as previously stated a reservoir is an old creek or river channel flooded. So pretty much imagine that you have the grand river flooded and all the areas around it are under water.. you have creek channels(the original river), drowned bridges,roads and tons of wood under the water. its a huge puzzle to put together.. i myself am just tapping into them. i have pretty much just fished them in the early spring time though so fishing has been pretty good. the whole key with them to is water temps. in the spring you ALWAYS look for the warmest water and that is usually always the farthest you can get from the dam area.. not to say that you cant catch fish there on an unseasonally warm day though but i always look at the upper ends. in the summer you should definately look to the areas around the dam. warm water temps, so you wanna look for that current that keeps the water moving and the temps down with an abundance of oxygen. in the fall look into the creek arms where the fish will push the bait back into points to feed. if you got anymore questions let me know here or email me-skeeterman-
as for reservoirs - belleville, yes - kent lk, possibly - halfmoon??
and this is my opinion only as i to still question all that i see and read.
early season i believe start at the lower end, shallow, warms up first. look for some structure, spanwing areas, creek arms,etc. as season progresses your working your way out hitting main points, cuts, outlets, flats. 'til hottest part of summer your at the upper end where is the coolest water. short scenario i know, but correct me if i'm off track. in this sport, its always learning.