I have an 19 acre watershed pond. It's basin is typically 10ft deep with shallow sloping banks. Coontail tends to grow out to about 8ft of water along the shoreline. Typically clear water.

Questions:
Would either scuds or PK shrimp be advisable?
Both?
Can they live in my location and environment?
Possible downfalls to either one?

I'd love to hear from someone familiar with my location and these critters!
Jason

Jason, I have them out here in no-man's land, they do just fine in your area.
The down-side is if you don't have enough of the right vegetation, but I believe you're ok. Need to get them established before predators are overflowing.

Thanks Snipe! I sent you a message.

Jason,

What is the age of your watershed pond?

The ones I have fished in your area usually have a fair bit of silt in the upper basin creating shallow water with LOTS of plant life. If that is the case, then you should have an excellent refuge for either the scuds or shrimp to escape predation.

If Snipe gives you some good advice, can you post it back in the forum? I see similar questions posted a lot for people trying to expand their food chain, but at 19 acres, you have a bigger pond/lake than most on the forum.

I've found the cold-hardy PK shrimp to be extremely prolific in higher clarity, vegetated shallow areas. Macrophytes seem to be most important.
In our region they do just fine.

FishinRod, you've pegged the silt thing. LOTS of shallow vegetation in the upper end!

I'll gladly document what I do and the results (if there are any... chances might be pretty high that I release some things and then never see them again). As far as info from Snipe, I'll let him add what he feels is appropriate. I don't want to miss-speak or give out information he might be holding close.

My pond is ~500 miles east of Snipe's place - just south of I-70 in the Middle of Misery.

PK shrimp have done very well in my pond.

As previously mentioned, having enough of the right vegetation is key.

My pond is still down ~3' due to the extended drought we've been in so there's not much shallow plant growth,
but I put a ton of cedar trees in while the pond was filling so there's dense cover from the north bank halfway
across the pond along a steep drop from 6'-16' (-ish when the thing is full) - lots of room for them to hide.

I stocked some scuds too but I don't ever see them. They either all got ate or they're hiding in the detritus on
the bottom of the pond. I haven't really gone looking for them lately so I can't be sure if I still have some.

Augie, my cedars are now out of the water 3 to 4 feet up the bank. I’m now down 6 to 7 ft.

I've got quite a few that are mostly out of the water now. We've finally started to get some precipitation up here, but with
the groundwater being so depleted most of it is still soaking in. We need a couple good toad stranglers to get the creeks flowing.

Man, I feel for you guys that are still dry. We went close to 2yrs without much of rain. Many ponds completely dry, at least a lot of them got dug out. Our watershed was as low as anyone's ever seen it. We got a rain right before Christmas that filled it, then rain again yesterday that has some water flowing. Counting my blessings and sending some prayers for you guys!

For those who have successfully added Scuds and/or PK Shrimp, did you notice actual results in your fishing? Was it a difference maker?

Id be curious as well, did it make a difference visibly on the weed growth?

Weeds are a concern, but in my situation I'm not sure I want to loose them. So far my Coontail is not out of control, I'm fairly certain my Golden Shiners use it to lay eggs on, and I think it's an attraction for winter ducks. Adding things to a water ecology scares me, sometimes there are unintended consequences. I'm just hoping for an added forage base with these invertebrates.

I thought scuds and PK shrimp were mostly detritus eaters plus perhaps some tiny zooplankton they could catch. Do they feed and denude vegetation in ponds?

If so, and you are worried about adding them, I think most pond owners might be able to drain down their pond down 3-5' such that the scuds and/or shrimp have very little protection from predators?

However, I don't think that would work for large watershed pond owners like catscratch that cannot pull down their water levels.

I thought the decision on scuds/shrimp was that they might establish in the pond, or they fail to establish and you wasted your time and money? Is there also a decision that needs to be evaluated that these crustaceans can be an actual detriment to a pond?

I don't think you can do anything to a body of water that doesn't potentially change something permanently. Like adding crawfish. I think they are a great food source and could greatly increase target fish growth, but if they eat all the weeds and muddy the water is that something you really want? My hope is that the change with scuds and KP's would be a net positive.

You are correct that I'm powerless to draw down the water. Lots of volume and lots of flow.

My personal experience is that if they affect vegetation/growth, I should have been able to tell a difference in the 2 growouts that have about 50% vegetation coverage before stocking any 2 years ago but I see no difference in clarity or vegetation amount. I think it's because we are talking about a beneficial organism that is much lower in the food chain. There is likely a change but it may be so subtle it's not a large visual change. Just my experience..

Been working with PK Shrimp for 15 years and Kenny's summary above is spot on. I've yet to witness any negative impact either.