We have a 7 acre pond in Kerrville Texas, and because of the recent drought the 7 acre pond has shrunk to approx 2 acres.(see pic). In the photo where the lake is shown as full we were having problems w/ skinny bass. We had too many fish. I took it upon myself to improve the situation by going to Kerrville every weekend for 3 or 4 years, and fish. I would catch 30 or 40 bass approx thirteen inches long. I weighed, and measured each fish, and cleaned all of the fish and put into freezer. At the time I started this the fish were 30% underweight according to fish charts. At the end of 3 or 4 years my father in law passed away, and I quit going to Kerrville as often to fish. but I improved the skinny fish problem. It just was not the same w/out my FOL there plus this is the time the drought started, and the lake gradually shrunk w/ the lack of rain. My Father in law lived there for 40 years, and the lake was full most of that time. There were times it may have been 4 feet low, but over the winter it would fill back up.

http://i706.photobucket.com/albums/ww66/hornstrider22/Lake%20past%20present_zpsc8sq2jis.jpg

Now with the recent rains is is starting to fill back up for the first time in 5 years. I would expect w/ the rains today, and expected rains next weekend the lake will be full again. (As of yesterday the lake is approx 75% full.....the springs are running again) My question is what do I do to re-stock the lake. You can tell form the picture that most of the bass that were in the lake are no longer there I would assume. No one has fished the lake in two years. Where do I start???

Hornstrider22,
Welcome to Pond Boss. ....checking water quality for pH and hardness is always a good place to start...if your water quality is good, you're going to be off to a good start. What are your goals for the pond? Contingent upon your goals, do you have a good existing forage base in place or will you have to build one? Do you have sufficient structure in your pond to facilitate a thriving ecosystem? It is suggested that your pond be composed of 20% structure. Contingent upon your goals, will you perform supplemental feeding? These are just a few things to think about before getting started.

In addition to water quality, double check for a fish population after the water stabilizes. If there are still LMB in there along with who knows what else, stocking fish will only be stocking snacks.

Without a baseline to see what's in there, stocking recommendations are just a guess.

What are your goals for the pond? Will you be going out there more often to fish now?

Thanks guys for the quick response. Like I said my FOL passed on, and my MOL is 95, and my wife, and her brother, and sisters (5 children) will inherit the 38 acres. My wife's brother, and sisters do not want to purchase it. If MY immediate family purchased it my wife, and I might retire there. It's located 5 min's from downtown Kerrville. All of my kids have fond memories of the place spending summers w/ grandpa, and grandma. Now my wife and I have grandchildren, and the grand kids would like to have the same experience.

Latest Picture:
http://i706.photobucket.com/albums/ww66/...zpssn0vlkx4.jpg

I started this post yesterday at my office computer in Round Rock, Tx, and then the rains came. Lot's of rain came..............approx 7" OF RAIN!!!!........Roads were flooded, and I had a difficult time getting home in Hutto, Tx..............But to answer your question as to what I want to do. I would like for the lake to be just as it was before the drought w/ normal sized bass. Actually my BIL who lives in Kerrville said when he took the latest picture he saw a really nice sized bass as the base of the pier when he took the picture....so I suppose there is still good bass in the lake. BTW...the latest picture was taken before the rain on Monday memorial day..

How do I go about finding out what's in there now? Who do I call to do a survey? What should the ph be? The lake has been a great pond for 30 years. My FOL was really protective of the fish in his pond, and did not want anyone to pull out a lot of fish until I pointed out to him that were too many fish in the lake. I showed the weights of the fish compared to their length, and he finally turned over the management to me. I was doing a good job until he passed.

Welcome to the forum
I would contact Todd Overton @ Overtons Fishery and he can fix you up and answer your questions

I think I would spend some time fishing it and getting to know what's there. But the bass are only as good as the bluegill base. Keep a log and try to get more familiar with it. Right now, I doubt that you could get a Pro to show up and shock it. They're pretty busy selling fish after all of the rains.

Not a problem. I suppose we could start fishing the lake again, and start measuring length to weight ratio's, and number of fish caught to get a feel to what is in there. It has been awhile since anyone has fished it. Now that the lake is full it should be fun. Thanks...any other suggestions would be appriciated.

HS22,
Freshwater species of BG, LMB, and CC can withstand a pH fluctuation between 5 - 10, but I understand that an optimal range is 6.5 - 8.5. Also, hardness and alkalinity levels of >20 ppm are acceptable, but 60 ppm is desirable. By all means, get a reputable outfit to check your levels. I send Todd Overton water samples frequently by FedEx and he emails the results to me. With that said, in the meantime you can pick up a water / soil test kit from Tractor Supply and see if the pH is in range.
Charlie

I grow heirloom tomato's as a a hobby, and I am experienced in testing soil for ph.....looks like LMB like the same ph range as tomato's.......but for soil analysis I send in to Texas A&M.

I would do nothing with the fish population for at least a year or two. With all the regained space and vegetation flooded again, the BG, YOY population will explode in a month! There will be a ton of forage again for those hungry, skinny bass soon.

It has been over a year since I last posted. The lake is full, and the bass population is thriving as is the blue gill population. We now have a problem w/ seaweed. The seaweed is so thick that is is very difficult to fish w/out getting hung up in the weeds. We have hand picked the weeds around the dock so we can swim, and enjoy the water. Is there any other way to control the weeds, other than hand picking that is not harmful to the fish population. Thank you for the responses...

http://i706.photobucket.com/albums/ww66/...zpslawpnxzv.jpg

http://i706.photobucket.com/albums/ww66/...zpstbqbpdv9.jpg

Welcome back Hornstrider. Good looking fish and kid. I see no vegetation in the water in your pictures. Do you know the exact type? Identifying the weed would be where I would start.

CMM..........thank you for the quick response. I am not sure I have a good picture of the weeds actually growing in the lake, but I have a picture of what we picked in the area that the photo's were taken. Can you tell anything from this pile?

http://i706.photobucket.com/albums/ww66/hornstrider22/lake%20weeds_zpsi7oilxjo.jpg

Wouldn't be able to even guess. But I have very little experience. Lots here do though. Maybe Kelly Duffy will see this, iirc, he is quite knowledgeable on aquatic plants. That is quite a pile. Good start to a compost pile? Cmm

Hornstrider: I can't confirm the ID of the pile of vegetation in your photo, but I'm guessing it's southern naiad.
I realize that you don't have quick access to the pond in question, but are you able to tell if this image looks like the stuff that you saw in the pond?
SOUTHERN NAIAD

Yes I believe that is some of the weed vegetation, but the bad stuff is much thicker stemmed and very invasive. My daughter was there yesterday, and I texted her to get a picture of weed cover actually in the lake. This is what a great part of the lake is covered with. Can you identify from this photo?? Thank you for your help.....

http://i706.photobucket.com/albums/ww66/hornstrider22/lake%20weeds2_zpsrrl1qmci.jpg

Again, the photo is of too much from too far away to verify its ID.
Look at THESE photos and see if they match up with what you recall seeing.
If not, use these photos as a guide for how to take images for plant ID purposes and try to get some comparable images of the plant that's causing your issues.

Thank you Kelly...I am planning to go down to Kerrville this weekend, and I will take close up pictures of the weeds in question. The 7 acre pond has been in the family for 35 years, and the water level has gone up, and down over the years never more than 7 to 10 feet. But the recent drought sucked the water down to just a couple of acres, and it stayed that way for at least a year. The last time it was full was 2011...............and since 2011 it gradually shrunk until the memorial day rains of 2015, and filled up to full around Feb 2016. In past years we always had weeds, but not like these. I had no trouble fishing in the "old" weeds. In fact I believe they offered good cover for the fish population. This current strain of weed is slowly choking the lake. I am anxious to find a solution. Thanks again for your help!!............The small trees that surround the lake shore are like small willow trees, and you can see they are also growing in the lake bed. We have cut the small trees that we up against the brick wall at the base of the pier. I had to cut w/ sharp loppers for the stems (or trunks) are very woody, and difficult to cut. I could not jut pull them out. I think they will slowly die out because they are not an aquatic plant. I know I shoud have done something about that before the lake filled back up, but family matters prevented me from doing that.
http://i706.photobucket.com/albums/ww66/hornstrider22/Lake%20past_zpszvxqtapa.jpg

My original post at the top of this thread I asked about the fish population after the lake level dropped by 70%. Since then I have discovered the fish population is fine, as is the size of the fish (they are healthy). No more skinny bass......But now my problem is very aggressive seaweed growth, and how to manage the vegetation. Should I post this question on different forum? Like "Controlling unwanted plants"?

hornstrider22, this same thread is fine for asking about your aquatic plants, but better pictures will probably be required before any recommendations can be given.

Aquatic herbicides tend to be more expensive, and very plant dependent. What you don't want to do is spend your time, effort, and money applying unneeded chemicals to a misidentified plant. It's certainly not great for the pond either.

Thanks Fire....I will pull weeds, and take pictures this weekend...Last year at this time the dragon flies were laying eggs on top of the water just off the boat landing west of the dock. I would throw a plastic worm, and catch LMB after LMB unhook throw back.. only to catch another one. Now the dragon flies are back, but the spot is covered w/ weeds. I will hand pull the weeds from this spot this weekend.......and take pictures of course.

FWIW I recently bought a weed rake from Bill C. that is so well built I think you could pull up trees with it. Makes clearing an area a piece of cake...and with the long rope, ya don't even need to get yer feet wet!

I would take the time and effort to learn what these invasive weeds are before I raked or pulled to much. Some weeds can be made worse by fragmentation. Hope it all works out, it sounds like a nice fishing spot.

Tracy

Thanks Bill........we have a weed rake, or actually a weed blade....it has a "V" shaped blade at the end. It works pretty well, but difficult to use. We have a boat w/ a trolling motor. It does not have enough horse power to drag the blade behind the boat.

I have pictures of weeds. This first weed is the most prominent, and abundant weed in the lake. This is the weed I reel in every time I cast, if I don't get hung up in the process. If I catch a fish it always gets hung up in these weeds, and I have heck of a time landing the fish. It really takes the fun out of catching a fish. Help



This weed is along the shoreline.