Hello!
We just moved to a home with about an acre and a half sized pond in the front. It's beautiful to look at but I'd like to know more about maintaining it for fishing and swimming. I'll tell you all I know as a noob, and maybe you all can tell us more about what we have from the wealth of knowledge here. Here goes:
The pond has large trees around it. I have learned the leaves of these trees is the reason for the tea color. I can see my fingers in the water up to my elbow - beyond that it's dark coca cola and I can't see anything. The pond also has two small trees leaning into it leading us to believe the level has come up a bit over the years. The level, by the way, remains consistent, it overflows in heavy rain and returns to its regular level in about a week's time. There is a pipe that drains what it can to a ditch, but the pond is downhill and so is the drain. Once the pond and the ditch drain downhill, the water has nowhere else to go, so it over flows.
We have blue gill and LMB, snapping turtles (not fond of those!), slider turtles, a heron and a white egret that come to visit occasionally. I have not seen any snakes or leeches. We didn't stock this pond, every creature we have was there when we moved in last May, so they have survived the winter. The property sat alone and empty for 6 months. Seems the fish got on fine without human help.
I looked up the weeds around the pond and it appears we are rife with alligator weed, but we don't mind it as it doesn't seem to want to spread into the water beyond the banks, so they act as a nice filter for the run-off I suppose. We have a small dock to get in and out and to dock the canoe.
The surface of the pond is always clear and the water seems to always shimmer. Occassionally there's a film on it in the mornings, but by afternoon it's gone. Sometimes small patches of floating vegetative debris can be seen, but everything gradually drifts to the banks.
When we do get in to swim, there are at least two patches of really cold waterin two places (groundwater or springfed maybe?), the water is clear to my elbow, but tea colored as mentioned above. I haven't let my feet dangle on the bottom too long for fear of snapping turtles coming after my toes, but the bottom is probably 8-9 feet at the deepest part near the dock. Where we can feel the bottom, our toes feel something soft and flowy. Disturbing this stuff brings up flecks of matter. When I got out and peeled off my suit, there was a bit of what looked like rich garden soil stuck on my hip. Not mud-like or clay, but black and plant-like.
Our pond is about a half a mile away from the inter-coastal waterway in Wilmington, NC. Our well water is full of iron and -ugh- sulfur. The man we bought the house from never lived there, so I know nothing of this property's history.
So, what can you tell us about our pond and what can we do to make it swim friendly? I don't want leeches, so we're keeping the fish!
OH! And we inherited a friend's small paddleboat. Do you think paddling around in that keeps some aeration happening now and then?
Thank you!
BKeller
Last edited by bkeller; 07/30/13 11:09 AM.
