Sent my permit off for the grass carp but after talking to Todd it may take a month to get it approved and back.. He seems to think that might be too late and too dang hot to get the grass carp.. I will get them in the fall I guess..

After a lot of reading on this site and input from the new project supervisor (The Boss)..
I think I'm going to go for a fairly clear water pond that I can swim in sometimes but bass heavy and try to grow a few big to really big CNBG and RES...
I will feed instead of fertilize... Will also use aeration to keep the bottom microbes more active..

There are tons of snails on the chara..
I counted about 50 in one glob I raked out onto the shore..
Millions upon millions of small & medium mussels as well.. I think the RES will fall in love with the place..

I will try to control the Chara the old fashion way with winter draw downs a strategic raking a few times as the water warms.
I will see how it goes this summer and If I can't keep up, I will add carp as needed..
Also continual cattail control to keep the hiding spots for forage under controll and in balance as well..

I'm now raking passages thru the chara so the bass will have alley ways to attack the stunted BG... It's seems to be working great and a lot of fun to watch the bass use the newly raked alley to stalk BG near the shoreline..

When I refill the LMB will have a 10-15 ft wide bare alley all the way around the pond with chara about 15-20 ft wide with alley ways cut thru the chara.
If you look at the above pics, there is already a chara free zone in the center of the pond and around the submerged island.
I will connect the alleyways to that central clear area..

Since the draw down and other work the bass are cleaning up on the BG... All look much fatter now.. Just not a whole lot of them like the old days.

I'm going to try and balance cover with water clarity so the BG will still produce but give the bass many places to strike to keep the BG numbers in check and the big ones growing..
That might be tough to figure out because water clarity definitly helps the BG if you don't have the proper ambush areas.. That's what I've observed so far anyway..

I will also trap more BG before I add any other fish except for some adult LMB to keep hammering away at the small BG's.

I sure hope Todd can come thru with some large CNBG to keep the younger BG I have in line and out of the spawning areas when I get ready to stock..


I Also will add a small beach (sand gravel bottom)about 30 feet wide and 20 feet deep near the drain area...

I'm going to build a new pier now with lights and maybe a bug wacker as well.. Just trenched a 30 amp electricity line 300 feet to the pier along with a 3/4 fresh water line.. None of that was in the original plan and renting a trencher and buying 30 amp underground wire was not cheap..

My other pond will be a bare bottom with man made/placed cover for pure fishing..
I might just drain the whole pond and re-stock..
It sounds easier than her pond don't it!

In summary I've had my mind changed.. The Boss now want's one clear fishing, wading, swimming with a wildlife friendly area type pond with small bass and big BG/RES...


Any help, insight or suggestions would be nice...
Well if you can understand any of the newbie gibberish in the above post that is??

Thanks in advance..

Will be sending off for the magazine soon... and a few back issues..

Again great site..