I am in the middle of a 5-10 acre Trophy Bass Pond and want my FHM,GS,Craws and Threadfin to have ample food and cover/spawning ground to produce some MASSIVE BASS! i am planning on the following so far:
Water Reeds
Water lilies
Sago Pondweed, unsure said to be a good spawning plant
And some submerged plants that produce oxygen like the Hornwort i think its called

If by reeds you are referring to cattails, as long as you understand they can be invasive and will take over if not managed, they are fine and can produce some good fish cover.

Water lilies are pretty and good fish cover, but again be sure you get a hybrid variety as non hybrids tend to have too fast a growth and reproduction rates and before long your pond will be nothing but water little in areas 5 feet and shallower...

If your mind is set on introducing pond plants(often they find their own way into your pond) I would go with species that are not going to be overly invasive. Corkscrew eel grass would be top of the list and if you cannot procure that, then regular eel grass is an option. Sago pondweed is a good option IMO. It is a fully submerged aquatic plant and is native and not overly invasive. Widgeon grass is also native and not overly invasive. IMO hornwort would not be a good candidate for a pond.

thank you i need some plants that would oxygenate the pond and have good protection for:
GSH
FHM
Crawfish
Threadfin Shad
I also want plants that are good for these fish when it comes to protecting eggs.

Illinois and American pondweed are fun to fish over. They create a mat on the surface that bass like to hang out under. You can fish for them with a topwater frog.

thank you thats one plant i want. I love fishing stuff like that but was worrying with lilies about the spreading. I mainly want the "mats" that offer good shade, now a good oxygenator and fry/breeding plant would be great!
So now my journy has me looking for a good oxygenator and something to offer Goldern Shiners and Threadfin breeding materail, hmmmmmm

https://www.pondmegastore.com/shop/home.php?cat=284

would any of these be good oxygenating pond plants?

All plants produce oxygen and then use it at night. I don't think added plants for the sole purpose of them adding oxygen to the water would have much effect.

Even in ponds with no vegetations there is still enough oxygen.

Chris is correct. Don't buy or choose the submerged vegetation primarily as oxygenators. Oxygenators are primarily sold for small scale water gardeners. Your phytoplankton and attached algae are the main oxygenators in pond-lake settings and are usually ubiquitous, diverse, and always present when algacides are not regularly used. Choose submerged plants for non-invasive nature, loose open underwater structure and for the ability of the fish to move or hunt through the plants.

so what plants would be good for creating structure and hiding spots and topwater mats for my fishies

Fishkeeper1, the challenges you're facing are these:

Where are you going to source these plants from? Most species are not easy to impossible to source from retailers, so you'll have to find a wild source.

Not all species are adapted to all water chemistries and other abiotic factors.

Plants are not the end all be all to protecting your forage fish. In my opinion and experience, extensive shallow areas are more important. Most pond owners build the vast majority of their ponds with extremely steep shorelines, slopes in the area of 3:1 or even steeper than that. This really limits shallow water refuges for forage fish and in my opinion is often why most ponds cannot sustain self reproducing populations of forage fish. Many pond owners want to limit plant growth by using steeply sloped shorelines which is fine if that is your goal.

It isn't going to matter what you do, FHM will be extirpated from your pond within a year or so even if ideal habitat is involved. You can certainly add structure for them and spawning locations to assist in keeping them present for as long as possible, but in the end they will all be eaten...

GSH spawn on vegetation, anything from pondweed species to flooded grassy areas in the spring. They will also spawn on filamentous algae. Having shallow "nursery" areas for the young of GSH is key to their long term success in a pond with LMB or other high end predators.

TFS have somewhat similar methods in spawning with GSH. Their need for shallow nursery areas is not substantial, they simply out reproduce their hungry predators, literally producing MILLIONS of young.



Some good plants for ponds are those that are not overly invasive and provide scattered pockets allow the movement of fish through them for foraging yet also provide protective cover to forage fish. Species such as:

American Pondweed
Eelgrass
Illinois Pondweed
Variable-Leaf Pondweed
Sago Pondweed

Some of these species such as the American pondweed and the Illinois pondweed have floating leaves and will provide that "floating mat" that many bass fisherman like to fish over. Underneath these mats is a semi open area where predatory fish can forage and forage fish can take refuge...