I would highly recommend you take a look at the Jenlis Lake Weed Rake. I think I read that it appears under various trade names, look for the long (~8") red plastic tines.
I use it mostly to mechanically remove FA from a 1/3 acre pond. It works best weighted down and pulled across the bottom. You can take the weight out of the head, and throw it to catch and retrieve floating mats. In fact I would buy 2 so i could have a heavy and light rake, but they are too pricey.
The best part is the that you can just shake it to get the FA off the head. With any other rake I spent a lot more time cleaning off the rake head.
FWIW, I'm not sure I'm winning the FA battle, this is just the best rake to use while you're losing!
