Lake Liming

Seneca, South Carolina Lake Liming

Lake Liming

Trophy Bass Start in the Dirt

When you think of growing trophy bass, dirt isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. Bluegill, crawfish, shad and other forage grow big bass but have you thought about what grows a bass’s food?

All fish start out as fry and feed off their yoke sack. Once they are done with the yoke sack they move onto small aquatic insects. Lakes with poor soil don’t support as many aquatic insects.  When we attempt to fertilize these lagging lakes our fertilizer has no affect because alkalinity levels are low. Luckily for lake owners there is an easy solution to get top notch dirt.

Liming your lake is an easy job assuming there is proper boat access and a good tractor operator. Liming food plots is a normal fall ritual for hunters, but liming lakes is mostly unknown. Unlike food plots, lakes only need to be limed once every 3-5 years with the rates we recommend. Lake liming ensures the fertilizer will be effective and produces an algae bloom.

lake liming
The first few loads are always the hardest. The ground is very saturated so carrying such a heavy load makes operators nervous.
The lake being limed is a classic South Carolina up state lake with red clay composing the bulk of the soil. Red clay isn’t good for growing crops or big bass.
Lake Liming
When we are spraying lime off the barge we are liming the soil. We aren’t liming the water as many clients assume.
lake liming
In two to three months the lake will be ready to fertilize. Hydrated lime is quicker acting but it will last less than six months.  We used agriculture lime today. Agriculture lime is slower acting but last years. We lime lakes at 4-6 tons/acre because we only want to lime every 3-5 years.

In a few hours the pile of 24 tons was in the lake and working on the soil. We like to lime lakes in the cold months because lake owners won’t be losing growing season. We start fertilizing lakes once the water temps reach 60 degrees, so ideally our owners start fertilizing in April.