Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Stopping the sediment

My stream that flowes into my pond has a narrow point 20 ydrs before it enters the pond, if I build a wooden dam at this spot to slow the water down will this deposit the sediment behind the wooden dam and not in my pond.

Why does my water clear so quickly, I am using a net to remove leaves that are on the bottom and when I stur up the black muck mud I can see bottom again 5 minutes later, and the smell is like rotten eggs.

Thanks

The smell of rotten eggs is hydrogen sulphide, which is toxic to your fish.

Thanks, Omaha, left undisturbed is it ok, I am sturring it up by removing the leaves and muck, I have never had a fish kill, when you say toxic to fish, are they safe to eat?

What other things can I do to remove rotting leaves that is beyond my reach on this 1/2 acre pond, this muck is full of all kinds of crawling creatures, is this not food for the BG?
Thanks.

I will let someone more knowledgeable than myself field those questions.

The fish are safe to eat. The gasses at the pond bottom are there because of little to no O2 in that layer. Bottom aeration will help with that. If there is O2 at the pond bottom, it will help the leaves decompose quicker too.

As for the stream, the silt and sediment stay in suspension due to the fast running water. When the water pools up in front of the dam, it slows down and the silt/sediment settles out. Once the water goes over the dam, it is moving at a fast pace again, and the silt/sediment will stay in suspension.

Thanks esshup, the short distance the water has to travel from my new wooden dam is too short for the water to pick up any sediment, also would it not be correct to say that more 02 would be in the water as it fall over the 2 foot high dam.

Fish an fishing is my life, This pond site is a heaven sent, so far the members treated me ( even tho I am a dum pond manager ) with great respect, Thanks.

Records will be kept, I do know I have a good water supply from a spring that is shaded and does not warm too fast, trout can live year round in this pond.

Its nice to have a local like Cody close by, hey, lets go fishing cody.

I wish my pond was deeper, but I must deal with what I have, and I have never seen hybrid gills this big, I have had 3 BG spawns this year, I had about 20 young bass survive the spawn, did they get eaten by the 5 lb bass, I have about 8 bass in the pond from 12 inches to 5 lbs.no minnows in pond-yet.

Another item, I have seen a swarm of young BG after the spawn, must have been thousands, but I never catch a 2 inch BG, are they being eaten, is it time to remove that 5 lb bass?

cmanjim, i have the exact same situation. i made a rip rap (rock almost 1/2 the size of bowling balls) barrier across the upper end of my pond. i think it really helps with the sediment. i get a huge amount of water in my pond during a heavy rain, with the barrier i can see muddy water above it but mainly clear below.

i also have been raking leaves from my pond. i have an easy way to lower my water level. i have a 4" pipe thru my dam next to my regular standpipe and the valve is on the dry side. i lower it from time to time so air can get to the leaves and such..

i have noticed a lot of little creep crawleys like you mentioned too. i figured the bluegill and redear would eat most of these??

CmanJim:

The water should have more O2 in it after going over the dam, but how much more is impossible to tell without actually measuring it.

As for the 2" BG, a LMB likes to eat food that is 1/3 to 1/4 it's own size. I doubt that the 5# LMB is the cause for the smaller BG to be disappearing. I'd look at the smaller LMB for that problem.

Esshup, thanks for your imput, I am learning, once I was a bucket stocker, I put 300 small ( 3 to 5 inch BG ) in the pond from a clean deep quarry, from what I can see my pond is not overstocked, I would like to stock some minnows, I wonder if enuff would survive to spawn in the pond.

I found a crayfish the other day in the creek.

The wood dam may be a quick and easy way to do that, and a good blockade too. It wouldnt wash away like rocks in high water either and mey make for easy cleaning when the sediment levels get high in the holding pool. I like scotts method too, and with your wood wall, I would suggest gravel or rock on the other side, to help with erosion and it does act like a filter.

Does the whole creek come into your dam or can you devert it when needed??

Crayfish make great Forage, post some picks and lets see what type they are.

Do you have trout in your dam now or trout in the creek??

All out war on muck, that includes rotting leaves abd twigs, I can bust my back and I have been working daily on working the firt 10 feet from the bank, after that I need help, I have studied about muck pellets, does anyone know of something that I could spread over the lake to hurry up the process, I am 65 years old, not interested in something that will take 5 years, other than draing the pond -not an option, how can I get back the 2 foot deep rotting scrap, I need that depth due to a alrady shallow pond.

No dynamite won't work either.

What do you mean, dynamite won't work? I'll bet that it will if you use enough!

The muck eating bacteria does work, but you gotta make sure there is Oxygen down at the bottom. If there isn't, then the bacteria won't live and work.

One of the guys here did a bacteria treatment earlier this year, and he posted his findings. He had success, but I don't remember what he used, nor how much the muck was reduced.

A dragline can remove sediment from the bottom without having to drain the pond.

Bacteria will not help your bottom muck as much as you think if it's mostly sediment. It will eat organics in the muck but that's it.

The only problem with a dragline is it may be hard to find. Trackhoes and dozers are much more common.

Jim,
When my pond was dug I had the contractor dig a silt hole where most of the water would enter it. The theory was to allow the water a chance to slow down and pool to give the sediment a chance to settle before flowing into the pond. Looking back I guess I should have gotten them to dig a few of them in a row with one being near the bottom of the pond to collect the sediment. If you have access to a backhoe it wouldn't take long to dig a few small silt holes. Just a thought.