Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Creating habitat Cattails

Shorty - I don't think you will get much benefit as spawning substrate for fatheads by cattails. Faheads usually prefer an overhead flat substrate for egg deposition. Depending on the density and size of the stands Cattails do provide some refuge areas for small fish and lots of invertebrates especially since the old stems of cattails remain standing all winter and until new regrowth starts in spring. I would consider cattails a form of "fluffy cover" as opposed to dense cover, since the stems are fairly widely spaced and smaller to medium sized fish can hunt through them pretty good. Catail stands provide good edgelines for fishing.

On the negative side catatils displace more desirable plant species and tend to gradually fill in a pond more than other desirable species that annually produce less biomass. Cattails can relatively qucikly close up a small pond. Over large areas, mowing off the tops after the heads are formed BUT still immature and a SECOND mowing a few weeks later will give considerable natural, non-chemical control.