How important is a creek channel on a natural lake, with no current besides possibly current created by wind?

It can create dissolved oxygen it a lake.

 

 

 

Natural lakes, as a rule, don’t have creek channels. Man made lakes, or reservoirs, are created by putting up a dam and backing up a river, flooding the area surrounding the river.  There may be creeks that run into a natural lake and creeks that run out of natural lakes. As you noted, there is no current except for surface currents created by wind in natural lakes.

31 minutes ago, Scott F said:

As you noted, there is no current except for surface currents created by wind in natural lakes.

That depends on the lake too.

 

Minnetonka has 6 creeks that flow into it at various points. It has one exit - the Minnehaha Creek - at the east end. There are currents caused by the inflow and outflow, but they're very subtle; nothing like the flow you'll find on dam-lakes like Eufaula, Guntersville, Sam Rayburn, Toledo Bend, etc.

 

Bemidji, the lake of my teen years, has the Mississippi entering the south end and exiting the east side - the current between those two points is more significant, probably coming closer to those listed dam-created lakes...but only between the inlet and outlet...north end of the twin bowls is much quieter. Having dived Bemidji in SCUBA gear, I can personally confirm that...we preferred the north bowl over the south because of the current in the south.

 

So natural lakes can have currents, but the strength of them depends on the interaction of inflow vs outflow.

I’d also throw out there that it’s not the current that makes most old creek channels important, but the greater depths and breaklines they create IMO. This would apply regardless of lake type. Any current situations as mentioned above would just be a bonus.

1 hour ago, Team9nine said:

I’d also throw out there that it’s not the current that makes most old creek channels important, but the greater depths and breaklines they create IMO. This would apply regardless of lake type. Any current situations as mentioned above would just be a bonus.

 

It's the same for reservoirs, it's always about structure. Current, grass, wood, rock, hard spots are  lagniappe.

Natural lakes like reservoirs come in different classifications depending on regional location.

Force sample the northern Canadian Shield lakes were created by ice flows gouging out the terrain then filling with water eons later. Flowing water moves softer soils leaving solid rock structure. The traditional channel swings are non existent in Canadian Shield natural lakes but rock reefs, ledges, islands, bays are common structure elements.

Wind current is significant in big natural lakes pushing water from one to the down side changing water levels. When the wind stops all the pushed water returns creating river water flows.

River and stream inflows/outflows creates some lake current near those areas.

Natural lakes in coastal areas like Florida are completely different and created by low depressions filling from both rivers and springs or a change in river direction. To control water flow these natural lakes often have man made canals with locks to improve boating navigation and controlling water flow. Again no natural channel swings and more bowl shaped lakes with little natural  rocky structure. Severe weather can create a natural from flooding. Like the northern Big natural lake current is created by wind and inflowing/outflowing water.

Most Bass fishing terms you read about come from man made dams creating reservoirs flooding local terrain covering pre existing rivers, streams and creeks within the past 100 years, whereas natural lakes have existed for thousands of years.

Tom