The Heart Of The Lake

Friday, March 21, 2008
by Ray Scott

Believe it or not, my first “pond” was a cement-bottomed structure about 6 feet by 8 feet in the backyard of my home in Montgomery, Ala., when I was an up-and-coming insurance salesman. I had about three small bass and some bluegill in it, and frankly, I just wanted to observe how the fish lived and interacted. You can imagine my satisfaction when I was able to build my first real backyard bass lake (approximately 7 acres) about 35 years ago when I was first getting BASS started.

Photo: Ray Scott Outdoors Ray Scott displays the newly manufactured version of the Lake Life Pump he invented 35 years ago after a massive fish kill on his private trophy bass lake. He recently sold his design to Kasco Marine of Prescott, Wis.

I’m no fishery biologist, but I knew what had happened – a dreaded “fish kill”.
The cause: oxygen depletion caused by water stratification and turnover. Following several days of warm, overcast weather, a violent thunderstorm blew in and churned up my lake. The surface oxygen-rich water was mixed with the deeper oxygen-depleted water and the result was inadequate oxygen levels for any aquatic life. Even the turtles climbed out.

From that moment on, I was determined to find a solution to this problem and knew it would have to be some form of a pump to mix or aerate the water in my lake on a continual basis, especially during the critical times of the year. After checking the market and consulting with my fishery biologist friends, I found there was not anything very promising – certainly nothing to give me real peace of mind.

To make a long story short, I did indeed come up with a lake pump design and had a prototype made. I tinkered with it over the years to improve it and more importantly, always kept it in my lake where it faithfully did its thing – like a heart beating quietly – nurturing my bass and the other fish and aquatic life with life-giving oxygen. I appropriately called it the Lake Life Pump.

However, the pump went well beyond the drama and trauma of a fish kill; it had the added benefit of measurably improving my water quality – hence the fish quality – and notably increasing the fishable habitat. Better fish and more fishing area were terrific benefits, in my mind.

When I showed it to my professional fish and lake manger friends, they were impressed, and I applied for a patent, just in case. I definitely didn’t want to get into the manufacturing business, but always in the back of my mind was the desire to, one day, make it available to other anglers, and the tens of thousands of pond and lake owners and managers across the country. People who love their lakes and ponds like family members.

Well, that day came recently when I sold my invention to a great company in Prescott Wis., called Kasco Marine. I had purchased a fountain for my lake from the company when I realized they were experts in all sorts of pond/lake products. I showed them my Lake Life Pump and they liked what they saw. We worked together and their outstanding engineers tested and retested the unit. By the time they were ready to market my design, it worked better than ever and looked a whole lot better.

I’m proud to say the Lake Life Pump is now available from Kasco and its distributors. I worked with Kasco to produce an informative DVD and it is available at no cost to anyone who is interested in having top-quality waters for top-quality fishing. And lots of peace of mind.

To get the free DVD or more information on the Lake Life Pump, call Kasco Marine at (800) 621-7611 or visit www.KascoMarine.com.

For information on Ray Scott Legacy Lakes and the "Creating Great Small Waters" DVD/video series, call (800) 518-7222.

Note: To read more about the inspiring story of Ray Scott and the multi-billion-dollar sportfishing industry he created, order Robert Boyle's biography, Bass Boss, at RayScott.net, or call (800) 518-7222..