My pond which we renovated in August 2015 has become super clear this fall. No appreciable rainfall since Oct 23. The FA has died back to the bottom and I would guess I have about 10 feet of visibility now. It's almost swimming pool clear. It's all clay bottom, but when stirred it settles back in a couple of hours. If I use polarized glasses I can see fish in the deepest water looking from the bank. I guess this is a common occurrence in late fall when it's dry with some ponds? My other pond right next to it has about 3 feet visibility and the forage pond has about 8 inches visibility. In the clear pond, the only debris I see on the bottom is FA clinging near the bottom. No leaves, etc, only the structures I put in. It's low, but still has about 8 FOW in the deepest flat basin. I have not used alum or any other clearing agent.

This is common in the Spring right after ice out too.

Yep, our ponds are windowpanes right now. It’s normal. Going to add winter dye tomorrow or Sat.

That is an interesting comment about the dye sprkplug. I had not even thought about using it this time of year.

But come to think of it, I do have a fresh batch of FA coming on. I assume it is a cold water variety as from what I understand there can be various varieties of FA.

I am curious, what is your use/purpose of fall/winter applied dye?

Mostly to help curtail winter FA. I tell myself the darker water might absorb sunlight a little better, but that’s probably wishful thinking on my part. I do think adding winter dye helps me get a jump on unwanted spring veggies also.

If it EVER rains again here, the water will get murky for a while. Only one substantial rain (1.9") since August 23.

John, I have the same problem; no rain.

Amazing how quick it can change. When I made my previous post I was thinking of the water yesterday and how clear it was. Went fishing this afternoon, and while it is still pretty clear, the warmer temps and sunshine the last couple days brought on a really nice algae bloom. Visibility dropped to about half of what it was.

Sparkie,

Can you expand a little bit please on why you add dye now and what the goal is, please? Timing and re-application?

We have pretty bad FA and do not aerate so I wonder if we could try this.

I'm not sure how much I can elaborate, but here goes.

I have become convinced that there exists an algae for all water temps, and every season. And since my management strategy involves as close to complete plant eradication as possible, My weed war is waged year-round.

I normally have bright green algae growing under the ice, so for the last few winters I have added aquashade with noticeable results. And since I recently decided that I no longer need aeration, I don't want dead and decaying veggies using up my dissolved O2....on the rare chance we get any extended ice/snow cover.

In the early spring right after ice out (hopefully), I add AQ again to get a jump start on the warmer water algae. It helps.

Thanks Tony. You're not concerned about oxygen loss under the ice without algae or aeration?

No, but then again winter is rapidly becoming a state of mind, rather than an actual event in my neck of the woods. And, I did move the diffusers shallow, just in case we get extended ice snow cover for few weeks. But with a limited fish population, little decaying vegetation , and milder winter temps, my gut says I will be fine.

It was 3 winters ago the last time I had clear water. It was my first winter when the surface water temps dropped to 42F. Right now, I am fighting a dense bloom with 62 degree water temps and that has been going on since Oct 1st +-. Visibility has remained at or around 8 to 10" and have seen a 7" day or two in the mix. I have not seen any fish kill and is most likely due to the 6 diffusers running 24/7. So with clear water or "Dense" green water I wonder which water provides faster or better fish growth in lmb? When it comes to fishing dense blooms, it can slow down the fishing due to fish not being able to see your bait as well. But clear water slows down the fishing also because they see to well. I will say this, fishing for lmb has been tough during this dense bloom.

The viz in my pond came up a good bit this fall but it's far from clear; about 18 inches. Not real sure how much is bloom and how much is still silt stirred up by the Israeli Carp. Jar tests are inconclusive. Temperature varies widely due to the shallow nature of the pond. 37 two weeks ago and 44 today. The feed has slowed due to a lack of rain but still flows through at maybe 30 gal per hour at 54 degrees. There seems to be a small amount of FA on cover but it's not the usual bright green.

Amazing how different ponds behave. Interesting stuff this pond experience. Wish I had spent more time paying attention to it through the years.