Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Winter Pond Maintenance

I have a new (this year) pond and figured it would be a good time to post the following questions regarding maintaining a pond in the Winter.

I see many local ponds with bottom difussers, most are still running here with some ice, is it recomended or should they be turned off once surface ice shows up? I haven hooked one up but will this spring, I enjoy ice fishing so figured I would turn mine off once ice showed up. Thoughts??

We do not get much snow here typically but I do know that heavy snow cover on the surface of a pond can be bad. At what point would you shovel off and clear ppart of the pond, should the shallow or deep water be cleared? after how much snow or so many days of covering??? Pond is 3/4 an acre, 10+ feet deep. Very little weed growth snce its new this year.

Last question, is there anything else that should be taken into consideration regarding getting the pond ready for winter?

Thanks a heap....;^)
Salmonid

Hi Mark! I think in your situation I would try to keep snow off the shallower areas - any where that you may have some underwater vegetation - so that the sun can penetrate and allow those plants to photosynthesize. I wouldn't let the pond sit in complete darkness for more than a few days. Since your pond is new and there isn't much biomass I think you will be fine with out aeration. I'm not a pond manager, but I would think you would want to cut back on feeding and what ever would cause waste toward winter. Metabolisms slow greatly in cold temperatures. I'm sure some Northern pond experts will chime in regarding winterization.

With a new pond, Mark, you should not have problems with oxygen depletion for a "long" time (wrt an older pond with a full load of fish, plants, and organic sediment). I'm not gonna sweat it on my new pond this Winter unless heavy snow cover goes on for well over a week.

P.S. Don't count me as a expert.

I make occassional southern trips to Dayton-Cincy area during winters. You are not going to have a lot of days for ice fishing each winter. Even in northern Ohio our average maximum ice thickness and total ice fishing days are fewer compared to 15-20 yrs ago. Your area gets even less ice cover. Air temperatures in your area can get cold for several days but warming spells pretty well keep winter snow fall and thick ice (6"-10") from accumulating for long periods in the Cincy-Dayton area. Since snows do not accumulate in your area like those in central to northern Michigan latitudes or the snow belt states you will rarely have a problem with winterkill due to deep snow lying on the ice for periods longer than 3 wks which would need to happen in your case with 10+ft of water depth. If you are going to remove snow, I suggest you remove strips completely across the pond primarily in a north south direction. Before removing snow make sure you have a solid 4"-5" of clear non-honeycombed ice for safe foot traffic. There is no real need to run your aerator in winter past late October-early November in your latitude unless your pond is in a woods or receives lot of tree leaves in the fall.

I assume you will be similar to numerous other Ohio pondowners that do keep the underwater rooted weeds to a minimum throughout the year thus the amount of organic build up of dead material in the late autumn will be minimal. Low amounts of organics in the pond going into winter creates less demand for oxygen consumption during ice cover. You should not have to worry about winter kill unless your pond is unique from most other new Ohio rural ponds. I assume that you do not fertilize your pond.

Excellent advice from Dr. Perca.

Mark, I shut my aerator off several weeks ago. I won't start it up until spring. I've done this the past two winters with no trouble. The benefits of aeration this time of year aren't worth the cost of electric to run the aerator. The first couple of years I didn't have aeration at all and I didn't have any trouble. I've never removed snow from my pond. It never lasts very long. I don't have any weeds and I'm not heavily loaded with fish. If you keep your weeds in check you should be fine for at least the next several years.

It's much easier to place structure on top of the ice insead of trying to do it from a boat. Right now is a good time to build structures indoors while we aren't doing property maintenance or fishing.

Thanks guys, I figured I would be ok but wanted to be proactive with the question vs. being reactive, which is always a bad thing...
Bill is right, typically we do not get much heavy ice or snow but last year we had about 20 days of local ice fishing and this year looks to be on its way to far surpass that. Brrrrrrrr, last week I had over an inch of ice and most of it is still there after the last warm rain and now we are back in a cold cycle,(20's)supposed to be warm tomorrow ( high 40's) and then in the teens by Sunday for lows. Gotta love Ohio, if you dont like the weather, just wait a minute.
Tomorrow I am putting the last 3 cedar trees on top of the ice and hop eit falls through.

Salmonid

Mark, were you running your aerator when you had an inch of ice. I had at least three inches this year already but it was short lived.

I dont have an aerator (yet) but wondered since I see many local ponds with them still running. I am planning on getting power and aeration done this summer.

At this point I want it to get cold and stay that way for several days so i can try this ice fishing thing.

Mark

Me too. I hate this in-between stuff. Warm or cold is fine. My pond seems to freeze up before most other places. Maybe because it small or maybe because of my geothermal furnace sucking heat out of it.

I have a hard time finding icefishing partners for some reason