I recently sent Dave an aerial photo of my pond. He commented that I seemed to be working on a fine crop of filamentous algae. While this was true, not yet visible in the photo was an even better crop of submergent vegetation growing up from the pond bottom. Fishing became impossible because of the grass. To me, there is little difference in a pond devoid of fish and one that is impossible to fish. I might later regret doing so but I remedied the grass problem by working on the sunlight aspect. I dumped 13-13-13 fertilizer into my pond to reduce the ability of sunlight to support the grass. The tip of my paddle disappears at about eight inches. The grass is breaking loose and drifting to the banks where it is dip-net accessible. If a major fish kill results, I'll re-stock. Had I known about it at the time, I would instead have used powdered fertilizer. One of these powdered fertilizers is called FULL STRINGER, is formulated for ponds and should be available from your local feed store for about $30.00 per 25 pound bag. Five pounds per surface acre is recommended. Other powdered fertilizers are probably available from some of the Pond Boss Magazine advertisers and if you can avoid prohibitive shipping charges by having access to those businesses, please buy from them.
