"After the first time a major rain event occurred and I almost caused a spillway breach because the grate had clogged with debris I decided that losing a few (or even more than a few) fish during spring overflows was a much better option than losing the whole darn thing."

That is definitely a concern. In my case the cage I will put on has probably 8 times the surface area of the pipe opening. There are no trees around the pond also. I think it will be ok and if it does look like it could cause problems, will definitely take it back off. I also have an emergency spillway starting just above the top of the spillway pipe that is very wide and can handle a lot of water, with about 2' of dam freeboard above that. So even if the pipe plugs, I have 2' of dam to go over with only about 10-15 acres watershed. So I think I'm pretty safe in my particular situation.

But you do bring up a valid point. Thanks.

John

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