Badinage Lake

I always thought it was sort of funny watching Jimmy Houston dump fertilizer in his lake. But like Jimmy and you explain there is a reason for it. He explains around 12 minute mark.

https://youtu.be/yqO77_vjdY0

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Originally Posted by JordanLimit

A theory I have developed over the years is that the first lake in a chain, like High Rock, captures most of the nutrients flowing down the river. Phytoplankton feed on those nutrients and become the forage for small minnows and more importantly, shad. Of course, shad is a primary food source for crappie and lots of other forage fish. As you go downstream from High Rock to Tuckertown to Badin to Tillery the nutrients are filtered out and less for the plankton. It's the source of life for bodies of water.

Interesting to hear from some of you guys that live in the area if this is actually what is happening. My home lake is Jordan and for years folks have been saying it is polluted with too much nitrogen and phosphorus. Well, guess what are the two key nutrients for plankton? What is pollution to some folks is the key source for good fishing for many of us.

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I think you're correct. Crappie Connection also has a podcast with a biologist that goes on to explain something about lakes with a decent sized river flow and creek systems coming in being good lakes usually. Every one says every lake is polluted, and from a drinking water standpoint in our current babied digestive systems, true, but through the course of biomagnifcation, which concentrates toxins, you'd have to eat a stupid amount of MOST sizes and species of fresh water fish to have to worry about it.

Runoff flows into the waters downstream though lands with greater numbers of larger subdivisions and farms because the land flattens out and gets less rocky the closer it gets to the coast, making it more suitable to farming & development. Higher concentrations of nitrogen from fertilizer, animal, and human waste increases the volume of algae, which robs oxygen from the water. Just like water having increased nutrients upstream, the quantity and volume of nutrients varies depending on where the water is sampled/tested throughout the body of the lake. What might be good to add in the lower reaches of a lake, may be harmful in shallower water. Low dissolved oxygen levels in the lake during Summer is responsible for fish kills (& Jordan has had some major ones). Nutrient levels vary and not all can be beneficial. Balance is key.

Jim