In winter time like this my pond becomes really clear also! 7 feet easy. Gin clear as they call it. I do not Fert. though. Once you start to Fert you need to keep doing it so they say. I have managed to grow 10 plus inch BG / 4 lbs HSB and 4 lbs LMB without Fertilizing and that's fine for me. I know in my 1 acre pond I am not gonna break any records this way but I have gotten a nice overall situation that is fun to fish!!
RC
P.S. And your right about the clear water and fishing, I have a 14 foot flat bottom boat and they can see it coming for a mile!! LOL! Cloudy days work best for me in the boat and I have a large bench at the edge of the shoreline to sit on when I am fishing from shore!
RC -
That is exactly why I haven't fertilized - because then I've got to keep up with it. It isn't about cost in so much it's about doing something that doesn't occur naturally in my pond and having to maintain it. I've resigned to allow nature to attempt to balance the life in and around the pond. Sure, I stocked the fish, but I'm hoping that a natural balance is achieved, or with minimal intervention. Which is also why I haven't invested in an automatic feeder. The benefits are larger fish faster for the forage fish that dine on the feed, but do they then rely on it and starve or unhealthy if the feed disappears one day and they have to hunt for themselves?
I built a couple of fish blinds that I can creep up to, squat, sit, kneel, or lay behind and cast over. But I've also been mastering the art of the long, accurate cast. The todo list for February and March is to finish setting in my habitats I've assembled that hopefully will help create specific areas to fish.
