We have about a half acre pond that's been there for several years now. I'm not sure there's enough coverage in the pond for the fish. The pond is basically a square with a bush in three of the corners, but that's all that can be seen from the surface. There aren't that many trees around the pond either, so I can't imagine there being many logs or anything under the water. How can I tell if there's enough coverage? How much should there be?

Have you seen this thread in the archives? Lots of good ideas, and it does have some basic guidelines listed within all those links.

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=92463#Post92463


How much? depends on goals. If your target fish are doing good or not. In your case with to many BG, you might have to much cover, but this is also in conjunction with predators. BG may be to high in numbers because not enough predator, or to much cover. You have to tweak both to get what you need/want. A pond needs constant management. Size of what you have to much of is also related to type of cover and size of predators.

Read the archived thread on cover/structure for many ideas. Rough rule of thumb is 20% of surface area of the pond. In colder climates it's just as important to have cover in the deepest part of the pond for the winter as it is in shallower areas of the pond for late spring/summer/fall use.

Any photos of some fish taken from this pond? Cover can make a bad situation worse in some situations.