TAKEOFF
BASS SCIENCE
TYPES OF RESERVOIRS
RecoGniZinG diffeRences in fisheRies can lead to BetteR catches By TJ Maglio
america is a nation of reservoirs. according to a 2017 report by the american society of civil engineers, there are an estimated 90,580 dams in the united states that impound more than 600,000 miles of river, stream and creek. these dams range in size from miniscule structures that form farm ponds to nevada’ s hoover dam, which impounds a staggering 37 cubic kilometers of water and powers thousands of homes and businesses in the West.
Regardless of their size or location in the country, most dams have one thing in common: there’ s probably a bass or two swimming behind them. however, despite the enormous number of reservoirs out there, there’ s no official geological classification system for them. so what’ s a bass angler to do when it comes to figuring out the different types of reservoirs and how to find and catch the bass in them? in the 1970s, fishing legends al and Ron lindner developed a reservoir classification system that lumped impoundments into broad categories, and added
terms such as“ plateau impoundment,”“ highland reservoir” and“ canyon reservoir” to the bass lexicon. as good as those classifications are, however, there’ s a bit of variability between the types, and figuring out which category a local reservoir fits into isn’ t enough to provide tangible help to most anglers. let’ s look deeper into a few more definitive factors that differ between reservoirs, to explain what those factors are – and how anglers can use that information to catch more bass.
18 fLWfIshInG. com I january 2018