Theo and Ewest,
I'm not sure what is causing my water issues. I'm not sure if I even have a water problem. I really shouldn't be having any based on the conditions we've had all summer.
We've had good rains throughout the summer. My water level is currently about 2-3 inches below the standpipe, which is pretty good for this time of year. For the past couple of weeks the weather has been mostly sunny and in the 70s during the day and in the 40s-50s at night. We almost always have wind during the day, so I know the water is getting pushed around a lot. Nothing has changed in my watershed -- at least nothing visible within at least a half mile of my pond.
The few bluegill that are coming up to feed are the little ones, mostly 3-5 inches. Much like Theo's, it takes a while for them to arrive. I'm not seeing any medium to large bluegill coming up to feed. There are still about 10-20 bass that are feeding, and of course the catfish.
The water has cleared somewhat in the last couple of days, but it is still brown, rather than green. I'm back to about 12-18 inches of visibility. I have absolutely no idea of what caused all the muddiness. It was during a period of almost no rain.
My "small black nasties" really are quite small. They look like ash from a burned cardboard box. Hardly any are more than an inch across, and they are thin. They float in a "slick." I'm beginning to think they are decayed leaves that the catfish are stirring up. I see a few bigger chunks that sound like what Theo described.
I seemed to have had a pretty good bluegill and bass spawn earlier this year, but I'm seeing very few YOY. I get a few small LMB in my trap if I leave it out for a hour or two, but almost no BG. I don't know if I'm catching so few because they have so much structure to hide in now, or if they've all been eaten.
One other thing. The bass I've caught recently have had red teeth. That is, the area in the roof of their mouths where their teeth are, has been red. I usually only see that in the early springtime when they first start feeding. A Wr of about 0.8 for my bass is pretty normal -- so I wasn't concerned about the one in the picture above.
Oh well, I guess this is the fun of having a pond. Hopefully it is nothing to be concerned about.
Good fishn'
Ken
