Quote:
Originally posted by Bob Lusk:
Most of the time, ice-tea colored water is acidic. Send a sample to a nearby lab and find out the chemistry of your water. Sounds like your flow rates are high. In the case of lots of water flowing through, don't try to change the water chemistry. However, if most months you have little to no flow, there are some practical things you can do. Water chemistry test, first.
Fish live in ice-tea colored water...or you wouldn't have fish there now. But, that tannin-stained water typically doesn't produce as many fish as a lake with minerals dissolved in its waters.
So, you likely have a fisheries dynamics issue, too. Therefore, I would recommend an electrofishing survey to find out what you truly have. For a 5 acre lake, you could easily spend $3-5,000 trying to correct the fishery and wind up wasting most of that money. An electrofishing survey will cost considerably less than that, and will give you a good reference point to begin to "fix" your lake.
Here's what you need to do. First, write down your goals. What do you want from your lake? Second, analyze the water and decide what needs to be done with it (if anything). Third, analyze the fishery by a professional fisheries biologist so you will know the current status of your fish population. Then, make a management plan and put it to work. For example, let's say you want all the fish stated in your first post. Your main goal is to have a well balanced, healthy pond with five or six species of fish. The electrofishing survey will tell you what you have. The management plan will tell you what to do to achieve your goals. If I were the biologist, I would see what you have...for the sake of argument, let's say the survey finds no walleye, some small, stunted largemouth bass that are 10-12" long and 8 years old, skinny adult bluegill and some native fish such as pumpkinseed sunfish, white suckers and different size classes of bullheads (as stated in your second post).
Your job is to learn as much as you can about each species of fish, their habitat requirements and their food chain needs...and then supply those needs.
While all this is going on, you need to learn as much as you can to properly care for the water...to avoid winterkill again. This likely means a thoughtful and practical aeration system.
Next, as your biologist, I would come up with a game plan for you, which will likely include a remedial stocking program. I might, or might not, recommend adult fish to correct the "problem" fishery of bullheads and suckers. (After you learn about those fish, you might change your mind about them being a problem.)
Once you know and understand the lifestyles of each fish you want, then you will choose whether or not to stock, what sizes to stock and when.
You will learn that largemouth bass will reproduce...a lot. You will learn that walleye will need to be stocked periodically to sustain the population. You will learn that the food chain for both walleye and largemouth bass are other fish, such as baby bluegill, small suckers, small bullheads, etc. So, your bullheads and suckers go from nuisance to food supply.
Any way, I'm out of time...that's where I would go, were I in your shoes.
All the best....

Oh yes...don't worry about the spillway. Small numbers of small fish may leave, but if big ones go, you have a more serious problem. Adult fish are happy to stay where there is good habitat and food.
Wow! Great post!

Holding a redear sunfish is like running with scissors.