The barley straw application is pretty interesting. I wonder if TPWD is experimenting with it and hope you will keep reporting. A good experiment might be for your neighbor to apply barley straw after the infestation/fish kill and restock. If barley straw is a good treatment, I wonder how long its properties remain viable.

To non Texans, PK, or Possum Kingdom, is one of the several large lakes on the Brazos River System. It is about 75 miles West of Fort Worth. Texas has only one natural lake. The rest are all man made power generation and drinking water impoundments. It suffered a couple of years of golden algae attacks with widespread fish kills. It had some really great fishing for striped bass, LMB and white bass. The fish kill was almost total. I talked to a TPWD guy who told me that they figured the river channel was probably about 6 ft. deep in dead fish. The channel runs for many miles and width varies. The lake has quite a few expensive, really expensive, homes along the shorelines. With dead fish washing onto the shoreline, nobody visited and nobody really wanted to even visit the beaches to swim. It killed the local economy and devastated real estate prices. It has been restocked and they are all holding their breath regarding future infestation. The magnitude of the infested waters preclude chemical treatment.

It's not about the fish. It's about the pond. Take care of the pond and the fish will be fine. PB subscriber since before it was in color.

Without a sense of urgency, Nothing ever gets done.

Boy, if I say "sic em", you'd better look for something to bite. Sam Shelley Rancher and Farmer Muleshoe Texas 1892-1985 RIP