Just got back from the farm, and the CNBG pond is still doing well. Removed 2 more LMB, so a better runoff barrier is still a priority before the Spring rains. The big lake area next to this pond is extremely shallow, and does not hold fish throughout the year. But, apparently when fresh rain water came in, they immediately tried to swim up stream.
I moved the floating figure 8 almost directly over the porcupines, and had far more CNBG and FHM feed inside it.
Since the weather has cooled off, I only had to add 2 runs of the trash pump to get the pond full again.
Primrose and Naiad are still growing in the pond, but both are manageable. I'm not inclined to chemically remove the primrose since it provides cover for the fry, and the fish really gravitate to it. Since my banks slope quickly, I'm able to just rake out sections of the primrose if needed.
The Naiad on the other hand is harder to manage. I've pulled it out by hand, as the water clarity seems to keep it pinned to the bank. Note to self, good rich water keeps the Naiad from spreading as the available sunlight is diminished.
I also tired some Hydrothol on patches on it with limited results. Who would have thought Kelly Duffie would be correct.
I purchased some Aquathol Super K, and will try this next. I did have 1 dead CNBG about 2" long within 8 hours of spreading the Hydrothol, so it's becoming less attractive in this confined pond.
The lilly pads look great, and the dead curly eel grass is spreading nicely. Again, I gave up on it too quickly. It should have a 3rd of the banks nicely covered by next Summer.
So the one question I have is, has anybody tried course rock in a over flow area? The 2 options I see are, a outlet pipe at least as big as the inlet pipe, or dumping approximately a 10' span of coarse rock just to keep the fish from traveling from lake to pond. Has anybody tried this method?
