Its my first post and I'm needing help with one of our lakes, The lake was dammed off in about 1925 and its about 11 acres. Some old notes at the time it was built say that it was 30ft deep at the dam. Now the deepest I can find with my depth finder is 12ft. There was a valve installed that hasn't been opened in about 8 years. We used to draw the lake down in the winter for weed control, but haven't since the valve quit working, though we are in the process of replacing the valve. Also, the lake drains about 2-3 times the watershead that a like its size should and heavy rains send water rushing over the spillway for days.

The water is very clear and we have a big problem with coontail and milfoil with some FA also. We had a biologist out to shock the lake to see what kind of fish populations we had. The vegetation made it difficult to get good results. They said our coverage was close to 80% and perscribed Grass Carp at 10 per acre and spot treatment with Navigate 2-4D granular.
He said it would take 2-3yrs before we notice a dfifference and maybe 5 yrs before it cleans up from the grass carp.

There are about 70 members in my club and they are very anxious to see results. Years ago we dumped bags of fertilizer in spots where the current could wash it throughout the lake with varying results. The biologist doesn't recommend this. The Navigate works where we spread it, but at $450 per acre, and only one year per treatment, we don't feel its cost effective.

I am considering either stocking more grass carp, using lake dye, or adding an aeration system (the water that is trickling out of the old valve has a sewage smell to it which tells me the DO level must be low near the bottom).

Any advice would be appreciated