# Spencer lake. What happened?



## Joe.mahan (Jul 26, 2015)

Does anyone know what's going on with spencer lake? They had the massive die off in winter 2015. Now the water is crystal clear and there are already tons of bass fry. Did they treat the water and stock? It's as clear as I have ever seen any lake. 9' of clarity. I have fishe that lake a ton and it's odd to be able to see anything. It's typically chocolate milk.


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## jmshar (Jul 9, 2011)

Talked to my cousin this evening who spoke of the same as you as far as the water being so clear.. He also fishes this lake frequently... He really didn't have a answer for it either... Hopefully someone will have an answer for it..


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## laynhardwood (Dec 27, 2009)

I don't have the answer to the water clarity but we caught some monster gills this winter the couple times we ice fished it. Clearly not all the fish died but I'm not sure about bass stockings or any water treatments.


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## flyphisherman (Jul 7, 2009)

Crystal clear? lol...... Any time I've been to spencer it's never been anywhere near "clear". 

I'll have to go give it another look. I do love clear water


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## Greydog (Mar 24, 2007)

Maybe Zebra Mussels are established. They sure cleared the water at Mosquito Lake.


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## creekcrawler (Oct 5, 2004)

Yeah, I was thinking zebra mussels too.


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## The Ghost (Jul 3, 2013)

No special treatments were given to Spencer, and no extra stocking occurred besides maybe some surplus channel catfish. It's hard to know what is driving the increased water clarity there, but a couple possibilities include a drop in the shad population (which act as nutrient pumps and increase algal growth) or a decrease in the white amur population after the fish kill (which might have allowed more aquatic plants to grow, storing more nutrients).


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## rmski (Sep 18, 2014)

Spencer is clear on the south side , you don't even need a fish finder & you can see structure 8 &9 feet down.Didn't see a fish on the south side, sight wise or on the lowrance. The north side is a little clouded in 8 foot , but starting to clear. Seaweed is growing fast in the last week, you will have to cut your way out in another week.Caught Three nice gills,some crappie & 5 bass about 5 inches. Crappie are only in the 9 to 10 inch range. lots of throw backs, but no length limit there if you want smaller fish .


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## Joe.mahan (Jul 26, 2015)

Below is a response I got from the ODNR.

Thanks for your interest in Spencer Lake. It did indeed have a substantial fish kill that affected all fish species present in the lake. One species that we had stocked in 1988 (after a lake renovation effort in 1986) were the triploid form (i.e. sterile) of grass carp. These fish persisted in the lake for 28 years and, although they kept the aquatic vegetation down, the compensatory result was more algae. Grass carp can also serve as a phosphorous “pump” by ingesting plants and diffusing phosphorus back into the water system through their feces. We are guessing that there are very few grass carp left in this system. As a result, we may see a resurgence of aquatic vegetation and clearer waters. That’s the best thought that I have for you.

Sincerely,

Phil Hillman
Division of Wildlife
District Three Fish Management Supervisor


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## fishinnut (Aug 1, 2006)

I went there sunday afternoon to try out a small boat i picked up over the winter. Haven't been there in a few years and was to shocked at how clear the water was. as i was unloading the boat, saw a a guy walk out with a nice stringer of crappie. Got on the water and seen all the weed growth and was like, what is goin on here! haven;t seen the weed growth like that since the 80's. Lots of small bass cruiseing around. I really didnt have the right baits to fish that clear water, but did manage to to get to small ones on a spinnerbait then a 19" 3.5 lbr on a jig. That was a nice surprise. Lake should really come on in the next few years with all the samall ones swimming around. Back in the day, when the lake used to get choked out with weeds, it made for tough navigation, but fishing was good. her is a pic of the decent one







Pic doesnt do it justice


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## 1MoreKast (Mar 15, 2008)

Interesting. So more vegetation would mean more oxygen, thus hopefully, a higher return rate for fish species as long as the vegetation does not get out of hand. I'd be interested to see what happens in the next several years. The fish kill may have been the best thing for Spencer. But I've been wrong before.


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## SelfTaught (Mar 27, 2014)

Made my first trip to spencer this year and you are all right. Crystal clear water, tons and I mean tons of small bass fry it was crazy. Did catch a 2.5lb bass and a 1.5lb bass while crappie fishing. Took a while to
Find the crappie but once we did it was a fun evening. 

Vegetation is absolutely horrible, electric motor nightmare across almost the hole lake. Every 10 seconds you're cleaning off your prop. Weeds to thick you had to paddle the first 100 yards from
The boat ramp because weeds too thick for the motor. No
Big crappie 6-9"mainly.


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## nis1 (Mar 12, 2014)

Joe.mahan said:


> Below is a response I got from the ODNR.
> 
> Thanks for your interest in Spencer Lake. It did indeed have a substantial fish kill that affected all fish species present in the lake. One species that we had stocked in 1988 (after a lake renovation effort in 1986) were the triploid form (i.e. sterile) of grass carp. These fish persisted in the lake for 28 years and, although they kept the aquatic vegetation down, the compensatory result was more algae. Grass carp can also serve as a phosphorous “pump” by ingesting plants and diffusing phosphorus back into the water system through their feces. We are guessing that there are very few grass carp left in this system. As a result, we may see a resurgence of aquatic vegetation and clearer waters. That’s the best thought that I have for you.
> 
> ...


 Interesting response from the ODNR. The same thing happened at Silver creek when they had their fish kill. Mass amounts of fish died (mostly carp, catfish, and shad) then the water clarity became perfect, weeds grew like crazy, and so did the bass. 

I think it has something to do with a change in composition of the water with a die off.

I would anticipate some monster bass being caught out of spencer in the next 3-5 years.


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## ratherbe..... (Apr 14, 2014)

I remember seeing the electric motor only signs on the entrance boards years ago, however they are not there now. The odnr website under wildlife areas,spencer,activities tab...... any size motor is allowed, operating at no wake speeds only. might help getting through the weeds. Probably will find out this coming week.


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## catfishhunter06 (Apr 5, 2006)

Way to small of a lake for gas motors......but woulds be nice!


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