We had an old pond (about 1/6 acre) re-dug 5 yrs ago. It's about 12' deep when full, but drops 3-4' every summer (fills again in the fall). I have bluegills, bass, and 5 big white amur in it (blue gills last year, bass this year, white amur 5 yrs ago). There are no longer any weeds, and the water is always muddy. When the water level drops the banks are muddy (and quite honestly, ugly). But, my bigger concern is erosion of those banks. My first question is whether the amur need to get out. My thinking is that it will help some vegetation establish and then the banks will not be bare dirt/clay when the water level gets low. I'm also thinking that getting them out will help clear up the muddy water. My second question is whether I should have rock (or some other sort of erosion control, like plants) on the banks. There is nothing right now except earth. Finally, I'm trying to decide whether I should try to do anything about the seeping, or just deal with it (like we have been doing). My goal is to just be able to have some fish in the pond for young anglers. Beyond that, I just don't want the pond to be an eyesore--it doesn't have to be perfect, just not ugly... Any advice is very much appreciated!

Muddy water blocks light, weeds don't grow. That's probably too many grass carp for a small pond. I would limit it to no more than two, maybe get them out entirely. When a pond fluctuates that much, you will always have bare earth on the banks when it's low.

Maybe you could find some discarded astroturf or similar, and line the banks with that up to the full mark, or have two inch crushed gravel hauled in to line.

I have one 1/4 acre pond that fluctuates about 30 inches due to a slow leak, and have the same problem with bare banks in summer, but not muddy water. The banks are hard clay, so not much erosion there, but it does stick to feet. There are some pond weeds, but it won't get thick enough to line the banks above the water line. Small ponds don't really have wave action that erodes banks like a large pond or lake does.

Hi Pond Newbie and welcome to the forum. I'd be happy to chat with you anytime regarding your turbidity and leak issues - I've helped many on the forum with both issues. Feel free to reach out anytime!

TJ

tj@hudlandmgmt.com