Pond Boss Forums Thread Like Summary - Shallow Water Cover

I needed to find a way to protect fry and fingerlings this fall when the shoreline plants start dying back when the water starts cooling. Most cover has to have a base, or stand of some kind, and that doesn't work well for the shoreline to 2' deep. Because of the size of my big pond, there are certain criteria I look for when I put cover out. It's got to be easy to deploy and reload, it's got to be quick and easy to build, it's got to be repeatable with resources available on my property, and it's gotta be cheap.

This is what I came up with. All it requires is hardwood and cedar limbs that I got after trimming trees, one concrete block, and 5-6' of nylon rope. $2.50 max. I used a 5/8" bit to drill holes at the base of each limb.


It's easy to set out, and should be easy to move and reload after placement. I set this one out near sliding pallets that I set out for FHM in my hatchery pond that is about to have the water level raised 2'. Once the brick was drug to the bank, I just flipped the limbs over to spread the cover evenly.



I was lucky enough to have 2 Nubian ruminants offer to help get rid of most of the leaves.

8 in the morning.


4 in the afternoon.


Here's one that I set out on the hatchery pond dam.

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Looks great Al....I love the look of brush in the water in the morning

I love it when what I see in my head actually happens. I added an 8' bald cypress to this brushpile, and the brushpile was loaded with thousands of 1/2" to 1" fry. The summer time combo of the brush piles with hybrid lilies, water primrose, reeds, and variable pond weed seems to have worked extremely well. I found 30-40 CNBG nests immediately adjacent to the outside edge of the hybrid lilies, and the fry can literally head to cover in a matter of a few feet. I saw a few 4-5" tilapia handling the algae from the decaying limbs. The bottom of this area is rock hard red clay, and the CNBG have spawned here for years. If you plan to ever plant a tree 2' deep, I might suggest spending the money to get a mud shovel. It really helps eliminate the vacuum when digging under water. I use it for digging up lilies as well.



Here's another pile of limbs that are about to get added to this existing brushpile. My little ruminants handle 90-95% of the leaves, so I let them dry out for a few weeks, and the remaining leaves are gone by the time I drag the limbs to the top of the pond. I'm not sure I would add them if they didn't do their part. Just an obsevation, but if you can reach down in the water, and not hit cover by the time you get to your elbow, then the cover is not dense enough.

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