Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Bucket stocking fish

I just came from a 2 day conference on lake management and had an EUREKA moment.

Here's what it was.

I was called last Fall to stock Triploid Grass Carp in a 1 ac pond. The owner had plants growing in the pond and tried treating them with Diquat and Copper Sulfate. He was able to rake out a bunch, but couldn't seem to get them under control and now they were growing up out in MUCH deeper water. It was at the end of the growing season, and I said that I wasn't sure about what type of plant (or algae) it was, and I wasn't sure if TGC would be the answer. He said "stock them anyway". O.K.!

It looked like Chara, but I knew it wasn't. To me, it looked like a type of algae, but I couldn't find it listed in any of my resources, at least not anything that was listed as being in this area.

Well, yesterday I found out what it was, and it's not good news.

It seems that he was fishing in a local lake, (Lake Wawasee, IN) and he bucket stocked some fish into his pond from there. He was adamant that he didn't bring any plants into the pond with the fish because the water came from the livewell in his boat.

Well, Lake Wawasee has Starry Stonewort in it, and it's an algae. It can be propagated by oocytes, so just a bucket of clear water could move it from one BOW to another. http://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/GreatLake...te=&HUCNumb

I talked to the INDNR manager that is overseeing the treatment of it in Lake Wasasee and he said that keeping it under control, let along eradicating it is proving to be very difficult. He said that they can give it a chemical haircut, but they can't seem to kill it completely, and they have to keep re-treating the areas. He said in some areas it is growing 3'-4' thick on the bottom, effectively cutting the water that is useable by fish in half, going from useable water that is 8' deep to water that is only 4' deep. This is some nasty, nasty stuff, and it is a royal PITA to treat, and it will cost $$ to keep it under control in a BOW.

SO, if you are thinking of bucket stocking your pond from another pond or lake, DON'T DO IT.

This guy did most everything right. He looked at the fish that he stocked, correctly ID'ing the fish, checked for external parasites, made sure that he didn't transfer any plants or pieces of plants to his pond and still got something in his pond that will cost him a LOT of $$$ to treat annually.