Jeb, Welcome to the club, you've come to the right place for help!
I not an expert on pond "stuff", but I can give you my suspicions and you can do some reading on the subject while your waiting on a amore confident response.
I would think that you are dealing with filamentous algae (FA) (some better pictures would help). We all deal with it to some extent. This stuff grows on the bottom when the pond has enough nutrients to feed it and it can get some sunlight. This usually means that it grows in and near the shallows unless the pond is really clear then it can grow in much deeper water. Eventually the FA starts to die off, then it floats to the surface and meanders around the pond looking unsightly. Most of us that have the time will rake it off and dispose of it in a compost pile that is down hill from the pond so that the nutrients from the FA does not wash back into the pond.
If you do a google search for "FA pond boss" and "Filamentous Algae pond boss" you will find some good places to start reading. You can also scan the threads located in the "controlling unwanted plants" section located here...
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=postlist&Board=14&page=1
