Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations standing timber - sweet gum trees

long time lurker here. my future pond site (in east texas) has many sweet gum trees and a few pine trees along a small creek. i'm trying to determine whether i should take out all of the trees or leave them standing. the water depth around the trees will be approximately 20 ft. so i really don't have water depth issues. if the trees were hardwoods, i would definitely leave them standing but not sure if the gum trees will be rotten in a couple of years and therefore, i might as well take them down now. any advice is greatly appreciated.

We dug out a cypress flat about 20 years ago and today it is full of sweet gum trees. So full we are getting ready to go in and thin some out in Jan. It may be that your gum trees will survive. We do not have any 20' water. If there has been standing water where the gums are located many of them are probably hollow. You can't beat cover for bass. The pines will make excellent cover. You can cut them down and over time they will sink, probably less than a year. You may want to remove all but the largest limbs. I would also suggest that any trees you cut you leave stumps for structure. As water washes around the base and roots it becomes a haven for minnows and crawfish.

When my pond was created (by a previous owner) all tress were left standing, the pond averages 5' in depth. All of the trees except for the cypress died. It was later drained and all of the dead trees were cut down and left for cover. Later, when the pond filled most all of the trees that were cut down floated. They were left in hopes that they would sink, some did but years later many remained floating causing log jams, prevented fishing in areas and hampered weed control. Since buying the property I have removed well over a hundred logs and still have a few to drag out. Oh yea, and after draining the pond this year to increase the depth aroung the banks the pond refilled and about a hundred more logs that were previously sunk floated up. It has been a major job cleaning this pond up. On hindsite the previous owner and myself would have been a lot better off if the land had been logged out and all floatable debris removed. Well thats my floating log/dead trees story.

If the existing gums are hollow they will float for a long time if left in the pond.

thanks for the responses. this board is a fantastic source of information. the sweet gum trees that will be flooded are not standing in water currently and so are living and healthy. i'm assuming the trees will die when flooded but i'm hoping the dead trees will remain standing for cover for many years. however, i'm afraid the trees, once dead, will rot quickly. does anyone have any experience with how long sweet gum trees will remain standing in deep water (20 ft), once they have died? if it's only a couple of years, i'm probably better off just clearing them out now. thanks.

They probably will not survive in water over 2-3 foot deep. If they have not been exposed or stood in water before they will die at any depth. If they are going to die they will die within a year. You would be better off to cut them down. The stumps will last for a long time. We have had gum trees come up in ponds in shallow areas and thrive. We have dug ponds and left existing gum trees standing in the pond. They have always died.

Over two dozen years making a living stocking and managing lakes and ponds, with 15 years of that time designing lakes and ponds, I have come to the following conclusions.
Fish won't live in a tree top above the water line.
Cormorants love to sit, or roost, in dead trees above the water line.
Too little cover disperses fish.
Too much cover disperses fish.
A long time ago, and old river rat fisherman in his late 80's, told me, "Son, if you're gonna catch fish in this river, you better larn somethin' rat now...90% of the fish live in 10% of the river. An, if you can figure out which 10% it is, you don't half to be a good fisherman, you're gonna catch fish!"
Well, I didn't really believe what he said. But, after 24 years of electrofishing, building, stocking, draining, evaluating lakes and ponds, here's what I learned.
About 90% of your fish live in 10% of your pond.
So, when building a pond, I recommend people create cover, push and leave trees, brush piles, sharp cuts, rock piles....whatever they have, in no more than 20% of the pond, peripherally, in water 4-8 feet deep.

well said bob. thanks.