Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations Where do I start

Hello everybody! Great forum. I have a small wetlands type pond on my property which I have been attempting to manage over the past few years. I installed a deicer which I am using as an aerator(with a floating mount), in an attempt to help with the fa, and dw. It definitely has helped, but the water is not clear. I installed the aerator 3 years ago, and the problem persists. The pond contains lmb, bg, bullheads, and maybe yellow perch. The pond is only about 80 feet in diameter, but 10 feet deep in the center. There is a small canal that leads to 2 other small and shallow ponds, and when the season is rainy the areas surrounding the other 2 ponds floods. Looking for advice with managing the pond. Thanks!

Hi NY!

Aeration and aquatic vegetation experts will be along shortly - just wanted to welcome you to the forum.

TJ

Thanks. Looking forward to getting some advice from the experts on this forum.

What are your goals for the pond?

At this point I would love to have clearer water. As I said the water is not clear , it is greenish brown. Dont get me wrong, that is better than having dw amd fa all over the top. I read the posts on Alum, and I am going to do a jar test asap. I also read the threads on how to determine the size of your pond, and I am not going to lie, it seems awfully complicated to me. Finally, I would also like to determne the ratio of fish in the pond, however it is not possible for me to use a seine net from the bank, since some of the bank is marshy. When the neighborhood kids are fishing with worms they catch lots of small bg's and bullheads. I seem to be the only one who catchs lmb's. Thanks in advance cjb.

With a large population of bullheads present, getting your water to clear up may be a real challenge. Bullheads in large numbers tend to keep the bottom stirred up. Doing a jar test should give you some places to start. Let's see what the results of the jar test are and go from there...

In regards to the area of your pond, if it's old enough to be on google's planimeter, then it would be easy to figure it out.
I think CJ has a link to it somewhere.

http://www.acme.com/planimeter/
use it to size ponds daily

Thanks guys,
I used the Google tool, and it told me that the pond is .1200 acres. That is the pond I am concerned with. The pond does have 2 smaller shallow ponds that are connected, but are not affected by the deicer/aerator. As far as the bullheads go. Should I just start eliminating them?
I have a catch 22. When I run the aerator the dw and fa stays out of the middle of the pond, but the water seems muddier. If the aerator hasnt run for a few days, the water does seem to clear up(visibility) but the dw, and fa are all over the place.Thanks again. You have already helped.

Is the aerator laying flat on the bottom? If so, it might be stirring up the bottom sediment. You could either attach it to the top of a 5 gallon bucket, sink it and try like heck to keep it upright or use some other method to keep the aerator close to, but off of, the bottom.

I suspended mine from a bleach bottle in my pond for the winter at 5' water depth. Not the prettiest, but effective.

re: bullheads.

Unless you really like eating them and they are a good size, I'd work at getting them out. I doubt that you'll get them all, but you WILL put a dent in the population and that might help clear up some of the suspended sediment.

I must be doing something wrong with Planimeter. It only allows me 3 points.

?? I turn it to satellite view and start clicking. Sometimes if the cursor isn't moved far enough it won't place a point.

The deicer/aerator is on a floating mount from Kasco. I thougt that it might be pulling debris off the bottom. It is tied under a dock in about 5 feet of water, but close to the bank. If I put it out in the middle of the pond it will make for difficult fishing. As for the bullhead.....They will be used as plant fertilizer when they are caught from now on.
Any suggestions for the seine net?

Thanks Scott. The Satellite view did it.

Ok , I have read quite a few more threads. Am I understanding you guys correctly. Cystal clear water is not optimal? I grew up in Bklyn NY, and spent my summers in the Adirondack Mts, where all of the lakes were ridiculously clear. For example you could see the bottom if it was 15 feet deep. Same goes for Sullivan County NY. But here in Orange County NY , most lakes and ponds seem dirty. I was down at the pond today and was excited to see a school of BGs, and a 3 lb LMB apparently near a nest. First signs of life this spring. Also many minnows in flooded areas. So the visibility is not that bad. I will try and attach a photo. Thanks
Erik

Phots attatched(I hope). Pond in foreground with dock is the one I am aerating. The flooed area in the backround is very flooded right now. The bass I caught looks like one of the ones that was stocked last year at 8-10 inches.How does he look?

Photos didnt post...will have to research

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Nice looking place! The LMB looks really healthy to me.

Definitely a great looking place, pondguy!

Hey NY, You've got work to do! If pond water overflows to another area that means you have NOOO excuse for not having a larger pond@! Get to diggin!

RCN, I would love to but pond shows up on wetlands map and.....I have 1 or 2 ahole neighbors. Here is a new question though. I am seeing nest for the first time close to the dock. Should I leave the aerator off for awhile? Also the jar test showed barely any dirt particles after a few days.

Sometimes having neighbors...well, lets just say that its not always a good thing.

NYPOND, have you checked with the county water & soil dept. to see if you could get a permit to deepen the pond in certain areas?