Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Help Should I clean up around edge?

Background: We have a 1/3 acre pond about 12 feet deep in middle in central OH. Pond was finished in late summer 2022 and stocked in 2023. Actually pulled a few decent sized bass and some blue gill out last summer. We had blue gill spawning beds around edge. We have 4+ acres of woods, so get quite a bit of leaves and such in it. A small creek feeds it and we have a spillway on opposite end. There is a 24" bypass and an 18" inlet with their tops level with each other so that no water comes in from creek unless it is deeper than 6". All in all it seems like a healthy young pond.

The edge is looking a little nasty right now. Some algae already blooming, dead leaves, etc. I have used Muck Out before, but my wife read somewhere it was good to take a rake and clean up around the edge. I started too, but kind of felt like maybe I was messing with something that Mother Nature takes care of just fine without my meddling. I attached a pic of the shore.

Any advice appreciated!
Gus

Exercise is good for you (and her) and the more algae that you get out means the more nutrients that you pull out. Win-Win.

You may want to consider Tilapia this year.

Raking and clean-up around the edges as noted by esshup is very good for the pond ecosystem. The raking mixes upper oxygenated water into the shoreline areas to help with faster decay of the remaining dead organic materials. Removing any algae as noted removes accumulated nutrients from a small portion of the pond basin. Any type of harvest removes nutrients from the pond system. Nutrients feed all plants and types of algae.

Thanks a ton for the answers! On the far side of my pond, the bank is fairly (not steep?) so I can even back up and drop my tractor's landscape rake a few feet in and pull out the gunk. Maybe I'll let the wife do the manual parts and I'll Rin the tractor

OK, nix the landscape rake. It did bring up a lot of gunk - but also little fish and tadpoles!

Dumb question: are those from this Spring? Or do tiny fish winter over in the mud or something? (I said it was dumb...)

There are manual 3 ft wide aluminum landscape rakes (big bos stores) plus an also very good aluminum rake with an attached rope all called a Lake Rake. I really like my Lake Rake very useful.Special bent inward teeth to help gather / collect materials.

From last year. They are in the very shallow water because the dark bottom warms up first with the sun and warms the water.

Amazing! Thanks. Sadly, I was bringing them in even raking manually. I picked them up and tossed them back in, but I'm sure I missed some.