I was wondering if this would be a good idea or not....

My thought was to cut tarps into variaous lengths and secure it to something that would anchor it to the bottom of the pond. The theory would be to have structure that resembled bottom vegetation for forage fish to seek refuge.

I think, in most situations, tarp strips on the bottom would be covered with silt in a few months, and be completely ineffective, unless the strips were suspended somehow, or in a circulating water system.

I see where your trying to get to and I do not think that tarp strips would be all that great compared to other non-natural items like rolls of old hog-wire fencing, sunken pallets, and cinder blocks, But, IF you could come up with a tarp that is made of a material that tended to float, you could roll up the tarp, bailing wire one end of the roll and cut the strips from the bailing wire to the opposite end, then secure it to a weight and sink to the bottom. This would simulate grasses. If the material did not want to float, I am afraid that you would end up with a pile of trash on the bottom of your pond.

It would be fun to get fishing hooks out of tarps on the bottom.

Have seen tarps used to provide shade. Tied to floating plastic drums with the drums anchored to the bottom.

Did it hold together through windstorms?

Yes - idea was to provide summer shade. PVC frames with ropes attached to drums. Tarp stayed just under water. One season then replace tarp.

Since we're just talking theory, here's my first thought. I would probably get 1" pvc of whatever length you want, fill it with sand, cap it, then drill holes in the caps so water can get in. One tarp would take multiple pvc pipe pieces.

Trim your plastic tarp according to the water depth you're targeting. I'll use a cheap plastic 8X10 tarp for numbers. Cutting 4" strips for 3-4' of water, if everything goes right, should give you 60 "plants". Each piece of tarp should have one seamed edge. Cut a 2" slit in the center just above the seam of each piece, and make that cut parallel to the piece(longways). Take the top of a piece, thread it through the slit, and around the pvc pipe. Now you have your anchors. The amount of pvc pipe you would need, is determined by whatever spacing you want between each piece of tarp. The wider the gaps, the more pipe you would need.

The top of each piece of tarp can be floated by whatever means is the easiest and cheapest. Fishing floats, small noodle pieces, etc. can be used with UV zip ties. I would think the tarp pieces would algae up and could get heavier pretty quickly, so I might account for that when selecting the floats.

Shallow water cover is always a good thing, so keep us all in the loop, whichever way you decide to go.

Al, that is a good idea using tarps for cover. Makes my mind think of what all you might do with your plan of tarp plants. Haha! And what all might be done with your ideas. I THINK ITS FUN MAKING COVER FROM STUFF LAYING AROUND!