A few weeks ago we moved the sludge and clay dug out of our pond last year, as it had dried enough. We hired a very small dozer with wide tracks that didn't sink into the still sticky parts underneath. Had the clay and sludge pushed up against the back slope of the new part of the dam and smoothed and tapered. The back slope there now has about a 5:1 slope on the SE end gradually tapering toward the spillway on the NE end to an excess of 10:1 slope. It makes the pond have the appearance of a totally dug out pond when approached from the east or NE. It is going to be very easy to mow next year compared to most of this year, and no danger of the new part of the dam blowing out.
Loaded the feeder with Cargill 1/8", 3/16", and 1/4" pellets. Then, backed the feed times down to 4 seconds twice daily. The fish seem to feed heavier around noon time in this cooler weather than earlier or later...
Them leaves are late but finally falling... I can't keep up with trying to net or rake them out. I'll have to think of an idea come spring to suction them off the bottom.. or maybe I can find a way to suck them up, run them through a chopping blade to 'mulch' them and let them sink again to improve surface area for bacteria to work on them?
Others say they have lots of leaves falling in the pond and just let them be? Doesn't that add to the muck layer quite quickly?
What about a rope and some pool noodles? Tie one end to a stake on the bank and pull it around from one side and loop around back to the stake. Net out the leaves floating near the bank. Just an idea.
God has blessed us with this day, what we do with it is up to us.
Buy a 2' or 3' deep seine with 1"-1 1/2" mesh that is roughly 10' longer than your pond is wide. It'll take at least 2 people to pull it, but you can get all the leaves in one or two passes while they are floating.
great ideas. I have a 100' seine which with some extension ropes covers the width of the pond fairly closely while the operator stands on shore. The mesh is tighter though (3/8" maybe?) I need to get another strong adult over to help do this. You need to keep up on it almost every day!
I do wonder though how fast they degrade or why some don't worry about it like I do. Several posted about natural ponds deep in a forest that take direct leaf falls for years naturally and don't 'fill in'.
With a few windy days the floating leaves tend to congregate on one side of the other and then sink along that edge. if I could just get them to blow or seine into one side I don't mind raking out the edges in the spring. I tend to have to rake a lot of nasty stuff in the spring anyway. It is the ones in the middle that I wonder how fast they accumulate.
With the smaller mesh you will be picking out fish. Larger mesh will let smaller fish swim thru, maybe "gill" medium sized fish and retain larger fish.
I replaced the battery for the first time in my TH feeder. It was 18 months old. Cut the feeding back to near half what I was feeding. Also have been otter hunting. There are two in my pond!! Fish still feeding strong or normal for this time of year. Water temp is 54,clarity 20 inches. Saw my first duck of the year on the pond yesterday morning,but also saw otter and gbh!! Yug!! Weekender,how big is your pond and what visibility do you have with aeriation this time of year? How old are your fish? Is your pond low? We are still 2 foot low on my 2 acre BOW.
Dear Alcohol, We had a deal where you would make me funnier, smarter, and a better dancer... I saw the video... We need to talk.
Zep, if ya can spear them things in the head or net em, have a good fry. It bums me every fall to see those nice fish go to the bottom of the pond instead of to the bottom of my belly.
Do nature a favor, spay/neuter your pets and any weird friends or relatives.
very nice AL...(that's what I'd have to do too to get around the minimum for delivery...Tbar and I discussed splitting an order)...you may have to re-name your pond the "Hog Pen" after those trout are digested!
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