Dance Upgrades Allow For Improvements Around Fall Creek Falls Lake

Improvements at Van Buren County’s Fall Creek Falls Lake continue through a state partnership with Bill Dance.

Fisheries Manager Will Collier said the Dance Signature Lakes Program has included installation of hundreds of fish habitat structures. The habitats have been installed in dozens of locations, mostly in fishable areas throughout the lake. Collier said that the structures have led to both an increase in fish population and general health.

“A lot of the sub straight there in the bottom of the lake, it’s kinda like the moon, there’s just not a lot going on there,” Collier said. “So fish are somewhat limited to where small fish can find refuge and larger fish can find a structure that small fish use and then can predate upon them.”

Collier said ten automatic fish feeders have also been installed throughout the lake, helping to feed small and large fish alike.

“We track the relative weights of these fish which is really just the measurement of how plump a fish is compared to its length,” Collier said. “And the relative weights of these fish has steadily increased.”

Collier said the fish habitat structures also provide a good habitat for macro-invertebrates that are attracted to them. Collier said that the habitats are also good at attracting anglers who know that it’s a likely area to host fish.

“We survey over half of the shoreline each year,” Collier said. “And so we have a really good idea of what the population’s looking like and how it’s responding to these management actions.”

Collier said as a part of their monitoring of the lake, workers have been surveying anglers asking about experience and fishing. Collier said this helps his team calculate how many trips and hours are regularly spent at the lake, as well as how many fish were caught. Collier said the surveys also help his team establish a baseline in order to estimate how much return on investment the lake is getting since the upgrades.