I have a question about ice on a pond.

1. If your pond is iced over and you have no aeration, on an average how long can you expect your fish to live before they start to die? I am assuming pond size and depth would matter here? My pond is 8 feet deep and 1 acre in size. Does anyone have any idea how long I could go before it's to late?

One key factor is to keep the surface snow free so that sunlight can get through the ice.

My non-scientific comment is that the light helps plant matter create oxygen under the water.

I'm not sure, but I don't think winter kill from ice-over is a foregone conclusion.

Ponds up North go weeks to months with ice over without kills most of the time. What's the longest you have ever had a complete ice over in AR (I'm suspecting right now may be your personal record)?

I too don't think you will have a problem. My pond is about 0.6-0.7 acres, and about 8-9 ft. deep. I'm usually iced over from about early-to-mid December until mid-to-late February. I've never had a problem that I know of. Snow either blows off my pond, or it melts and refreezes, so I've never bothered to remove it. I do not have an aerator.

Wow ok. Thanks ya'll. Yeah my pond went about 4 days with it froze over. I also wasn't sure about the sun getting through on clear ice. I guess I don't have anything to worry about then.

Thanks again,

I get over 200 days of ice cover, every winter. I don't normally have a winter kill, (no winter aeration). I know a lot of this falls into the "it depends" category. Having said that, my trout usually die around August.

Ok thanks, I was just concerned becuase the thread about the T. Shad dying off. Overton said his T shad died off and he had some LMB die off with his pond iced over so I was a bit concerned.

Thanks,

His issues were related more to water temp, than ice cover causing DO declines... T-shap and FL LMB are low temperature sensitive. With the unusually cold TX temps, those fish paid the price.

Really I did not know that about FL LMB. Makes since though. I believe all my LMB are of the Northern kind so not to worried about that.

Thanks,

Yeesh!

Talk about cabin fever!

Wood is used to Winter. He probably goes stir crazy in August.

Ice on your pond beats mud! We've had warm temps but so much rain that every body of water has been so reddish-brown for so long that we've forgotten what color it's supposed to be.

I've been thinking about seeding our pond with little pairs of goggles so our poor fish can keep the dirt out of their little eyes.

Whatever - fishing has totally stunk in the whole region for a very long time! Some people have caught a few in the really large BOWs that are 60+ feet deep. Nothing much shallower than that. And my poor little pond has a maximum depth of 10'

Four Days!

Sorry RC I'm not making fun of you but four days!

Heck, that's almost not enough time for Cecil to get there and test the thickness of the ice!

Now that's funny...

Cecil's very thrifty that way, the human body makes a bigger hole faster than any ice auger, and it's eco-friendly by not using fuel.

Yeah I know 4 days isn't long but I got to thinking exactly how long is to long? Oh and I can tell Cecil it was about an inch and a half or so! No need in coming to test!

Well you guys usually don't get any ice to speak of down there so how would you know? I didn't mean to make anything out of your comment on the four days, but it seemed so comical compared to our ice for months.







Good ones guys!

Yeah I know no problem. I don't take things the wrong way. I too am from Northern Wisconsin so I know all about loooooong winters and 2 foot thick ice. This whole pond thing is new to me though and just wanted to see what others have expeirenced.