Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Unusally clear water

My 4yr old one acre spring fed pond is about 20 feet deep in the deepest spot and averages about
12 feet plus. Except for about one month this summer the water was extremely clear. Last week while ice fishing I noticed that I could see my
waxworm laying on the bottom in 15 feet of water. The bottom of the pond is completely covered with Chara and the pond has about 5 % of it covered with some sort of weed growing from the bottom to the surface. I'm having trouble keeping fathead minnows in the pond even though I have nine piles of wooden pallets lined up in the shallow water on one side. I have 18 in trout and largemouth bass in the pond that gobble up the minnows right away. Why is my water so clear and do you think this is why i can"t keep any minnows in it? By the way, there really isn't that much constant flow out of the pond during the year, but it is steady except for all but the hottest days in the summer when there is no outflow.

Clear water is typically an indication of lack of nutrients...or nutrients tied up in excessive plant growth. Normally, aquatic plants die back during winter months...yours should do so soon. The reason you have no minnows is because they are slow, small and visible. They stand no chance of survival, or reproducing. Pallets are a good idea, if minnows stay there. But, they don't. As you peruse this site, you will find ideas how to change the situation to best suit your goals.

Additions to information Bob has provided. Spring fed ponds are typically low in nutrients (due to nutrient poor feed water) if a lot of fertile runoff is not received, fish are not fed or fed very little, and leaf liter input is low.

Chara is very good at absorbing lots of available fertility from the water column. Since Chara grows on the bottom it absorbs lots ot the nutrients that get recycled from the sediments as they decay. The 5% growth of rooted vegetation also absorbs nutrients from the sediments and water column. These two forms of plant growth esp Chara blankets the sediments minimizing organic particles from being resuspended into the water column. Thus lower than "normal" organic particulates in water column causes clearer water. These two forms of plant growth also compete strongly with the plankton organisms which are partly responsible for creating cloudy and productive waters. With low plankton growth few organisms are growing and dying in the water column and low suspended organics cause low bacteria populations due to low amounts of suspended food particles (dead plankton and suspended organics). Bacterial densities can also contribute to water cloudiness.

During late fall before freeze up biological activity decreases dramatically and wind action ceases after ice cover. All these things contribute to increasing water clarity that you are now seeing. Your water is probably also fairly clear during most of the year; but no doubt clearest during ice cover. A small amount to light penetrating through the ice will penetrate deep into the clear water pond and keep Chara active and producing oxygen on the bottom.

As Bob noted fathead minnows are very slow swimmers and very easy meals for LMB and trout. The pallets are poor refuge areas for small fish when small bass are present. Pallets are not intended as hiding areas for minnows but they are intended as spawning sites for fatheads. Small bass can easily hunt among and hide and ambush minnows in the coarse structure of pallets. Lusk calls this type of structure "fluffy" as compared to finely divided structure such as tree brush or rooted weed growth. Fluffy structures are hunting areas for predators not refuge areas for small fish.

Again, I repeat what has been said here many times before, fathead minnows are only intended for producing a quick growth phase for an initial stocking of small bass and after that (bass at 9"-11") it is extremly difficult if not almost impossible to get fatheads to survive until the next spawn period (fall thru spring)with a strong bass population present. Adding fatheads to an existing bass population is just providing QUICK snacks for the fish and never expect it to be anything more. Forage fish for mature bass basically needs to have adults too large for the bass to eat, such as bgill. Or if small adults forage is used, a very weedy pond that provides too much dense cover for bass to find the adult forage spawners is important to their long term survival.

As your 5% weed growth increases in size, golden shiners may be able to survive in your clear pond as bass food. Fatheads will always be quick expensive snacks with mature bass present.

Thank you for your quick replies. I feel better
about the water quality now that I have some idea
as to what is causing it to be so clear.