Pond Boss Forums AQUATIC VEGETATION Identifying plants Is this the Chara I read so much about...?

Crayfish my friend, you need crayfish, the more aggressive the better! They will chow down on the weeds, feed your bass, and when there is little to no weeds left they will stir up the bottom anyway and provide nature's natural sunlight filtration.

Of course you want balance in that vegetation control, but outside of chemicals, or raking, vegetation can be controlled with wildlife.

Plant leaves in your hand look smaller than those floating on the pond in the background, unless those in your hand are some of the newest smaller leaves. The plant is definitely one of the species of pondweed. Grass carp (GC) (triploid white amur) and or a lake rake can remove a lot of it. How big is the pond and amount of weeds (%coverage) will determine how many GC to stock?. One grass carp can eat 2000 lbs of wet weeds per year. It will be hard to establish crayfish if you already have an established bass population. With established LMbass, stock at least 12" or 12"+ GC; smaller ones become expensive bass food for 16"-18" bass.

I suggest you for the next few years remove some of the pondweed with a rake and add one or two grass carp. GC will only eat the lilies when all the other edible plants are gone. Stock only one GC and use the rake. Use the rake less as the GC grows and weeds become fewer. If after 2-3 yrs the pond weed amount increases add the 2nd GC. Keep using the rake each year to remove some weeds and use them as garden mulch.