Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Winter Drawdown Questions

For a newly stocked pond, why are weeds a problem? They provide much needed cover for newly hatched fish. Remember this...you stocked the food chain so it could increase. Then, you waited to stock the bass so they won't overeat the food chain. In theory, your food chain should be expanding as the bass grow.
A drawdown on a newly stocked pond concentrates all fish, with the risk of allowing bass to grow at a faster rate than they should.
It may sound contradictory to common opinion, but you don't want your bass growing too fast. If they do, the food chain suffers over the long term.
Think about this...aquatic plants become a problem when? When you can't fish it...when more than 50% of the pond stays covered for a long period of time...and when there's too much moss to fertilize.
Those three key reasons to eliminate moss have been eliminated...you aren't fishing a newly stocked pond...even if more than 50% is covered right now, those plants will die back during winter anyway, and you won't be fertilizing until spring.
If you can reasonably expect cold enough water temperatures to cause plants to die between now and spring, there's really not a good reason to draw your pond down.