Why Lake Depth Matters at Your Ohio Lakefront Community
When you’re starting to look for lake homes you want to start by picking out the lakefront community that is going to best suit you and your families needs. When you start doing tours of different lake communities you will notice a lot of differences including amenities, boating restrictions, scenery, lake size and lake depth. A lot of lake house buyers always ask what difference the depth of the lake matters. In this week’s blog we are going to answer that very question: Why lake depth matters at your Ohio Lakefront Community.
For starters it’s important to understand that some lakes are going to be shallow in Ohio, since a lot of lakes in Ohio are man made, but that doesn’t mean that they are necessarily “Bad” lakes or that deeper lakes are better, a lot of it has to do with personal preference. The first thing to talk about when discussing lake depth is how it affects vegetation growth. Since the lake is not as deep sunlight can more easily reach vegetation that is growing on the lake bottom, meaning that it can grow more easily. Since the lake is more shallow, your feet will more often than not be touching the bottom of the lake and therefore the vegetation. This is not dangerous in any way but can be off putting to some who prefer swimming in pools or at the beach. Staying on the swimming subject, the other thing the depth affects is the clarity of the water. If a lake is more shallow boats will constantly kick up silt from the lake bottom, stirring it in with the water giving it a murky look. And if you are swimming in the lake you can oftentimes feel the silt on your skin; again it isn’t dangerous but can be off putting depending on what kind of swimming you desire or are used to. Compare all this to a deeper lake where you don’t feel the silt from the bottom on you as you swim, due to the natural depth of the water serving as a natural protection from the boats stirring up the silt from the bottom. Take for example Apple Valley which can hit up to 68 feet, when swimming there you don’t feel the silt on you and the water is very clear and clean.
Another area lake depth can affect is the local fishing. Obviously a lot of people who want a lake house do so because they are big into angling and want a lake with good fishing. With a lake that is more shallow this can lead to more of the “bottom feeding” breeds of fish such as carp and catfish as they will thrive off the local environment. That being said, shallower lakes are typically better for ice fishing because the ice freezes faster and more thoroughly making it safer and easy to go ice fishing. For example Indian Lake is a shallow lake but is known as one of the best ice fishing lakes in the state.
Lake depth also has a huge impact on cove locations at that lake. Coves are already more shallow than other spots on the lake and so if the lake does a draw down in the winter to lower the water, some coves may become close to empty or devoid of water, making the view not so great in the off season. If you are in a cove at an already shallow lake, then being on the cove could mean that even in the spring and summer season you have very limited water in your specific cove, and when it gets drawn down you will have no water, or have water anywhere close to your house. You need to check the depth at the lake during both seasons, and the depth at the specific cove you are thinking about purchasing at.
Remember that lake depth affects a variety of factors at your Ohio Lakefront Community but it all depends on your personal preference. Before making any decision make sure to talk to your Lakefront Specialist about the lake depth at the specific lake you are looking at. And remember Life is Short – Buy The Lake House!
Written By – Justin Shelton Lakefront Consultant – The Lake Team