2023 Lake Management Plan

 
MEETING WITH MIKE RIGDON, SOUTHEASTERN POND and Beverly Craft
MARCH 9, 2021 at 11AM AT COMMON AREA DOCK
Fertilization Schedule sign is gone at the common area, so he will replace it so we can see every time they come out and do work.
Green Phytoplankton is the base of the food chain. It makes the water murky and can smell in the heat of the summer. Clear water is nice to look at but not good for the fish.
They do 11 applications a year: 3 visits for 2 wk intervals; 3 visits for 3 wk intervals; 1 more after 4 weeks being the last one in October
Lake needs to be Shocked either yearly or at most every 2 years. 1,000$
Fertilizer is like food coloring.. it will spread to entire lake, but test must be done in interior, so his men have to launch a boat to test water each visit. Fertilizer oxygenates also.
The Dam’s core is clay, so trees on front of dam don’t penetrate as bad because roots are close to water. On back, trees will send roots through the clay and cause holes when tree dies or is cut and effects a root. Any trees smaller than 6inch in diameter can safely be cut to ground.
Bluegreen algae is bad and results from high nitrogen (fertilizers) and gets worse when hot and stagnant. Remind the neighbors to try to eliminate fertilizing anywhere runoff to lake can occur.
If a lake is healthy, they don’t need to do anything.
We only need to have fishbeds between 0 and 6 feet from shore. The cheapest way was to have lake residents cut trees on edge and keep trunk to anchor it so it doesn’t float away. Fish use the entire trunk and limbs of the tree for safety. However, we can cut the part of the tree on the easement and somehow anchor what is in the water so easement can be used. Christmas trees are soft wood and disintegrate quickly, so not recommended. Building fishbeds: are best made from cedar trees. Also Oak is good and we can buy plastic “Honeyhole” structures from from SE Pond, PondKing or Moss back.
Water testing is done by a different company (need to ask him again if he contracts it out or we have to call another company.. I cannot remember the rest of this discussion).
There are too many bass in the lake. Smaller ones get eaten and the bigger ones get stunted in growth. We need to have a Fish Rodeo to remove as much bass and Crappie as possible. Nice time for a neighborhood fish fry. He mentioned 21 inches in width (?)– I don’t remember why I wrote this, so I need to clarify with him if this is actually the length of the bass to throw back. We already know to always throw back the tagged bass.
Alkalinity is tested on 1st and last visit of the year. Every 3 to 5 years, we need to Lime the lake. Calcium Carbonate is added and helps to fertilize. We have a 7+- acre lake which means we need between 25 and 50 tons (3 to 5 tons per acre).
 

2021 Lake Management Plan

CATCH & RELEASE    OR     CATCH & KEEP?

IF YOU FISH THE DEER RIDGE LAKE, WE NEED YOUR HELP!
​
We must harvest 250 pounds of bass annually.

If you catch a tagged bass, please catch and release.

​If you catch brim, keep anything over 5"

Any bass under 14", please KEEP IT!

If you catch crappie or cat fish, KEEP IT!