Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Weekly Observations

Looks like some open water still there .

Yes, in the Barge area where it will remain open all winter. The rest of the pond is complete ice covered.

No Ice Monday, 4.5 inches on Saturday. The ice is nice and clear. I bored a dozen holes and the thickness and quality are good at every one.
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Bottom temp is about as low as it will go.

Like that D.O. Dwight. Got the ice fishing house, auger. and heaters all taken care of. Tying jigs, getting bait, and organizing the rest of the gear this week. There is always a high degree of anticipation for the first ice fishing on Bremer Pond. Did you get you pond markers set yet?

No pond markers. More ice is needed to hold them in place.

Interesting how the bottom DO got down near 6 a couple of times this past fall. That's plenty of oxygen, and obviously there is even more above that. However, even in your groundwater-fed, moderately fertile pit pond, there obviously is some decomposition happening. Aquatic plants dying? Phytoplankton? Tree leaves?

I believe that most of the decomp is from aquatic plants dying off. Very few leaves would enter the pond as there are no trees other than shoreline willows nearby. I am sure that Phytoplankton contribute as well at a lesser degree than the aquatic plants. Aquatic plants are now present in 60 percent of the pond and this year was a bumper crop year for them.

I would be interested in the #s on plants vs. plankton in general. My assumption was that as a % of decomposable matter plankton far outweighed pond plants in volume. Have not seen Dwight's pond in person so can't say on his.

I am not sure how to answer your question. You tell me how to measure the % of decomposable matter plankton vs plant matter and I will do my best to provide that information.

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I will bet that it's 8 inches of solid, very strong ice, too??

Yes, the good stuff. The temperature for the next few nights should bring it to 12 inches in short order.

I still need to switch wheels on the Mule for the ones with chains. In will admit to spinning a few cat___es out there yesterday.

Blizzard warning for tomorrow so this is a day early.
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Brrrrrrr !!!! Too cold for me. Winter has set in for sure.

BTW I fixed the thread.

It was a balmy 6F degrees while taking readings this morning. The water is clear as a premium Vodka all the way down to 14 feet(bottom).

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Yes, balmy indeed!! Both the temperature and dissoved oxygen profiles (top, middle, and bottom) are separating nicely and just as they should. All is still well in the world of physics, I guess.

Merry Christmas to you and yours, the Followers of the Thread!
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Ice thick enough to drive on yet ?

Yes, 12 inches.

Readings taken late yesterday because of another impending winter storm. The storm is fizzling but it did dump quite a bit of rain. The rain and temperatures in the mid-30s disposed of most on the snow on the pond. It is good to have sunlight going through the ice in January!

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Did you get another layer of snow over the ice once it got cold again??

It snowed a few inches. A lot of it has blown off the ice leaving the ice bare in many areas. Our winds are hanging around 30mph this morning so who knows where the snow will eventually end up.

Ice thickness increasing, D.O. decreasing, temperatures are remaining stable. This is exactly what is to be expected.

I managed to trudge over to the Barge and observed that the water depth tube is at 18 inches. This is the same level as before ice started forming. What does it mean? The "normal average" depth has been 12" inches for the last few years so the significant rainfall of last spring and summer has raised the ground water table 6 inches. That is a big gain in ground water level for a single season. Another 12" rise in the "normal average" would bring the ground water table back to the "historical normal average" of 24 inches.

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Hey I just read that old animals thread from 04 hillarious! worthy of print! And that bit about jhap sharpening his shovel with pancreatic fluid was golden...assuming of course it was a joke.