Pond Boss
Posted By: Cadillac Bill Spillway barrier to stop losing fish? - 06/20/19 11:01 AM
I have placed grass carp in my two acre lake. I had about ten, 12 inch fish and they schooled beautifully. My wife and I enjoyed feeding them from our dock. The school got smaller as the fish grew. Now we have two about 24" fish.

I called fish dealer and he brought additional 10-12 inch grass Triploid Carp. Large enough to avoid predation. The dealer told me that I was likely losing fish through my concrete spillway.

He suggested a barrier to keep them from escaping, but did not know how to construct one.

I am a contractor and am familiar construction. I think a proper barrier should be made where we can easily reach to remove debris.

Your suggestions, plans, advice would be gratefully appreciated!
Posted By: Shorty Re: Spillway barrier to stop losing fish? - 06/20/19 11:33 AM
Green construction fence staked out a few feet out in front of the spillway in the water should keep you TGC in the pond.
I have though about that for my pond, but have not convinced myself that I really need it, but I find it to be catch 22 type of situation. The further away from the overflow (out into the pond), the less likely it will be to get clogged up and damaged, but the larger it gets and the harder it is to clean and maintain. I tend to envision a fence-like structure on land crossing the water's path that is hardy enough to withstand the flow and once the water recedes, it's easy to clean the debris. Something like bar grating with posts anchored into the spillway.

A photo of your overflow would help my imagination out.
The whole west side of my pond becomes overflow if the inflow overcomes the drain pipe. I've thought seriously about running a fence along that side of the pond for when I get one of those 3-4" downpours and the ditch gets full of YOY. Then I think twice and realize that mama nature just helped me reduce my overall BG/GSF population.
Posted By: BrianL Re: Spillway barrier to stop losing fish? - 06/20/19 04:37 PM
https://www.google.com/search?q=grass+ca...920&bih=937

Basically you need a fence the length of the spillway and inflow that will prevent them from swimming out. I have to construct one before I can be approved to purchase any GC.
Posted By: BrianL Re: Spillway barrier to stop losing fish? - 06/20/19 04:39 PM
I will be using 2"x4"x48" horse fence and t-post
Posted By: ScottyD Re: Spillway barrier to stop losing fish? - 06/20/19 04:44 PM
I’ve wanted to do the same, stop fish loss over the spillway but I also don’t want some large fence or something that is an eye sore. Was thinking of a net type wall that sinks at the edge or lays flat on the ground but has floats that keeps the net up during a high water event. My spillway is 75’ long. Wheels are turning and thoughts along this thread are appreciated.
Posted By: Matzilla Re: Spillway barrier to stop losing fish? - 06/20/19 05:08 PM
why not just let them go over the spillway and put a fence block across what should be a fairly narrow outlet creek below?
Posted By: gehajake Re: Spillway barrier to stop losing fish? - 06/20/19 07:44 PM
Im with QA, what kind of overflow do you have, are they going out through an overflow pipe or over a grass covered emergency spillway?
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