Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations No Match For Ol Man Winter

I am sure I am not alone with this but I am quite surprised still the same. With three air disks running 24/7 in about 8 foot of water the open water hole has frozen completely shut at least four times in the past two months. Forntunatly with the recent warmer days here in Northwest Ohio it's open again and I am pleased to have seen signs of life from by trout but I am just shocked that with that kind of water displacement that if ever closed up to begin with.

Funny story from an idiot. After the second time it closed I just could not leave well enough alone so I tied a rope to a tree and to my waist and ventured out near where the hole should be. With ax in hand I began to chip away at the ice that was crazy thick for being over the bubbler. After about 5 min. I finally broke through to water. Until this point I had not thought much about the fact that the air had been running under there. Apparently the ice around the edge had formed a better seal than I could have imagined. I nearly made a mess in the carharts when about 30 seconds later the entire ice mass over the pond let out a grown as if to act releived and proceeded to drop about three inches in in a loud thud followed by a huge gush of water from the newly opened hole that covered me with refreshingly friggen cold water. I can't explain why I thought it was a good idea to be out there yet when I told the wife of my adventures she did not seemed surprised at all. 25 years and she just is not that easy to impress anymore... There you go. I am an idiot...

At least you tied yourself to a tree with a rope!!

That's weird that your pond froze over. Mine never did, and a clients ponds that have winter diffusers never did either. I know his ponds didn't because I've got a winter project going on there and I'm there a couple times a week.

Having spent a dozen years or more fishing the Ausable in some of Michigans coldest winters I have never seen the river freeze completely shut so I too was surprise to see the hole over the disk freeze closed.

I would be curious to hear a report from anybody in the Oscoada area up there if the river froze completely at all in this winter hell.

Not there, but the MKG and GR are flowing a bit up stream to LM. Ice in the channels. Went buy a few feeders yesterday and they are open, and kinda getting full.

Cold Bud's till July

It likely depends a lot on heat introduced into a body of water that is warm, such as a spring or spring fed creek. I would bet your pond is all runoff so the net loss of energy vs energy input froze it shut.

Would it be worthwhile to drop a heater down the hole too?

A larger Creek near us has a large tributary which is spring fed from a large flow, and another which is not. The non spring side freezes shut easily, the other part and all downstream never freezes. When the water comes out of the spring it is in the 50s, so quite a bit of heat there. I would suspect the same for that river.

My pond is 100% surface fed and I am sure you are correct that without deep, warm water inflow it just lost it's battle with weeks in the single digits and many, many nights below zero. Damn I hope its about over thats for sure.

That clients pond that I referred to is strictly groundwater fed, and we haven't had much in the like of increased groundwater this winter. My has either stayed the same level or slowly dropped all winter. If you are bleeding off air, see if you can push more air into the pond, but keep an eye on the pressure gauge. The more waves the diffusers create, the more open the hole will be.

Thanks. My pond has been very high since before October. It will probably hit the outlet when all this crap melts. I think that also has contributed to the freezing of the hole this year but not in the past because the area that it's in is not normally 8' deep. Closer to 6 foot and so the added depth has taken a little less "punch" to the water with the added depth.

So far I don't see that having frozen shut has had any negative effects but I won't know for sure until she opens up a lot more.

I do have a pressure regulator on the line and I have turned up the air to the diffusers.

Its still interesting to me how the changes of that darn puddle of water in the back yard entertain me with every season. Best invsetment I have ever made.

It will only get better as you observe the water's relationship to everything it touches.