Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Question about pond habitat

I have a few questions about pond habitat. In the fall of 2010 I had an acre and a half pond graded on my property. When it was built I got to work with the contractor and we created an underwater trench through part of the pond, a four foot drop off at one spot, and an underwater "bathtub". Sorry but I couldn't think of a better way to describe how the dirt was shaped. Before it filled up I cut four very large Osage Orange trees and placed them along the shoreline. I also made a dozen pvc bushes and placed them in three groups. Last summer a friend allowed me to cut as many cedar trees as I want from a field he needs to clear. I cut about twenty of the trees that were ten to fifteen feet tall and sank them at various depths. There was also one very large cedar tree that was in the way of the dam construction. The contractor helped me save and place it in the pond with five CMU blocks tied to it. The tree still floated and moved to a new location along the shoreline. My first question is should I sink more cedar trees? I can get as many as I want. My second question is I have a list of plants I am thinking of buying to plant this year and want to make sure I don't put something in that will become a problem. The list is: blue flag iris, sweet flag, pickerel weed, spatterdock, spike rush, arrowhead, water lily, and wild celery. Can you tell me if all of these are suitable for a fishing pond in Iowa. Attached are some pictures of the pond after construction.

My wife would love your screen name, she went to Iowa...

Sometimes I think pond owners get too carried away with fish structure. In smaller ponds, only so much is needed. In big public fishing lakes, structure of often lacking. However, in most smaller private ponds too much can be an issue.

As far as the plants you listed, some can be especially invasive. In particular, the spatrerdock(yellow water lily), spike rush, and water lily(most likely white) can all be aggressive. If you are looking to plant a lily, consider a hybrid. Call up the Pond Boss headquarters and ask for a back issue where water lilies were covered. Bill Cody wrote the article. It is an excellent start.

The sweet flag, pickerel weed and arrowhead arum are all good choices for shoreline vegetation in my opinion.

10-20% of pond should be dedicated to structure. Few groupings to concentrate the fish. Consider PVC vs. woody cover - snagless, last forever, and can be moved wherever you want. I have Arrowhead growing around the margins of the pond which are great and American pondweed plus a combination of Sago and Horned pondweed too. I find they are all easily managed by my GC, are easily fished through, but are abundant enough to tie up nutrients and prevent filamentous algae growth. I have noticed much stronger plantonic algae blooms though as my pond ages.

I think CJ and TJ nailed it. The % that TJ is talking about is % of surface acreage.

In a pond that size (depending on fishing goals) you need about 5 non- shoreline brush piles/pvc groupings integrated with your bottom structure (cuts ,humps, ditches etc ). Each structure may and often is made up of several items to make the one structure grouping. See the archive for ideas.

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=92463#Post92463

If you are using the added structure other than for fishing purposes then it depends on the goal/use.