Pond Boss Forums INTRO New Forum Member Introduction NC farm pond

Well let me start by saying it is a privilege and an honor to have such a vast amount of knowledge to help me out with the mistery of my pond.It started back in '91 when we bought this place, the pond was a mess.All overgrown and very shallow. the amazing thing was that the fishing was quite good.Better then than now!I soon realized the dam was washed out because of all the storm water from the surouunding area came right thru the pond.So after 3 trys of dam building I got it right! But boy if I get about 3" of rain it turns into a little whitewater rapid.So the pond is much bigger and much deeper,buut I can't figuure out where all those big bass went.One thing that we have not done and that is taken any out.We have put about 10 or so large bass in.The pond does have crappie which I have noticed tear up the little bass when they hatch out.There are some bream which were fished heavily last year. I have put in a couple of bags of fathead minnows to help the bass with their food supply. There are also a good supply of frogs and crayfish.We own 80% of the pond and my neighbor has put in a fountain which is great for airiation. He has tried to spray the duckweed to no avail.Spent allot of money but it comes back after 2 days...I need to send some pictures and get your prognosis.Thanks again

Welcome, Nick. I'm not sure if you've posted these questions elsewhere on the forum or not as I see you've made four posts so far. Weekends can be a little slow around here, so hang tight for more feedback, but here are a few thoughts and questions to at least get your pump primed!

Do you know what species are in the pond besides LMB (large mouth bass) and crappie? What kind if crappie are they - white, black, other?

What size fish are you catching in general?

Fatheads will probably last a few hours in a pond with predators - they're like a quick snack because they are slow and won't have a chance to reproduce in an established pond.

Fish do have a memory to some extent or another, so catching them over the years could cause some of the slow down you've seen, especially on the bigger fish you used to catch.

There is also a possibility that the crappie are decimating the YOY (young of year) LMB and you are simply not having many grow to maturity. You probably ought to remove every crappie you catch because they can do a lot of damage to the balance of a pond if they aren't managed properly and, even then, there are just too few success stories of crappie in small ponds.

If the pond turns into a rapid in heavy rain, there is a very good chance some of your fish have simply washed out in the overflow. Unless and until you focus the overflow via a spillway, pipe, or some such where you can somehow guard against fish loss a little bit, that could continue to happen to your population.

As for the duckweed, have you guys tried a fluoridone based product such as Whitecap? It's very effective on duckweed and watermeal as are some other products, but that's the only one I have experience with at this point.

How big is your pond?
What's your management goal?
What's the main use of the pond?
Is the neighbor in line with your goals or will you be butting heads on some/all of them?

Lots of stuff to dig in to, but if you can give some more info, the folks around here who actually know what they're talking about (not me!) will be able to give you some good ideas.

Welcome to the forum. Hope you stick around and learn and join in the discussions!

Thank you so much for the reply!! It was very informative.
to answer your questions:


How big is your pond?
The pond is 1 acre.

What's your management goal?
To have a well balanced fishing pond.

What's the main use of the pond?
Fishing, mainly.

Is the neighbor in line with your goals or will you be butting heads on some/all of them?
Unfortunately, no. He wants more of a golf course type look, and will do anything to reach that goal. He does not fish, and never has, nor will. He has hired people to the spray the pond with chemicals without my knowledge or permission.
He has sprayed round-up around the bank and removed a lot of trees and underbrush from the surrounding woods.

Here are some recent photos:


The drain pipes

Well, the neighbor will be one of your biggest factors then, in all likelihood. However, getting the water into good shape is a key for both of you, so you may be able to reach a compromise with him on that goal. Perhaps you can strike a deal that he just stays the heck out of it and lets you do the work and you'll deliver him a great looking pond.

While it's really hard to tell what's all over your pond from these pictures, it looks like you have a really heavy case of watermeal (WM) or duckweed (DW). Whitecap would likely do a good job for you on either one. I think the key is to apply it early in the season before it emerges. Last year I applied it after it had taken a good hold on my one pond and it took a couple of months to really knock it back. This year I applied it in later spring before I had seen any emerge and I ended up never having a bit of it appear.

Another point to consider here is that with the extent of coverage you have, I believe you might actually run into potential for a fish kill as a lot of the sunlight is going to be blocked out by that layer of vegetation. That could impact your bigger fish as I believe they tend to be more sensitive to O2 problems than smaller fish.

Also, given the large number of trees, you are no doubt getting a ton of leaves dropping into the pond in the fall, leading to a lot of organic matter to decay and create a nutrient heavy BOW (body of water). WM and DW thrive in over-nutrified water, if I am not totally mistaken, and could be a manifestation of the condition of your water. So, in the end, the neighbor cutting back trees could actually be a good thing in the long run.

Again, sit tight and wait for some other feedback as I'm sure folks who've been doing this a lot longer than I have will have corrections to my input and will be able to offer a lot more useful information.

Nick, stocking larger fish doesn't always work. They just have trouble with new environments and often lose weight.

There are several considerations (negatives or potential problems) for your pond:

Bass can quickly become conditioned or hook shy in a one acre pond.
Bass are also spawning machines and in a one acre pond can overeat their forage base. Although it seems that they ought to bite, they quickly learn all about the problems associated with you standing on the shore.

Crappie, also spawning machines but erratic, should not be stocked in anything less than a 25 or so acre pond. They are early spawners and quickly eat all of the young forage that you would really like to use for bass and bluegill.

Fountains actually do very little for aeration. They are pretty to look at but aren't all that functional. You need a system with bottom diffusers.

The duckweed and/or watermeal can be a huge problem. Periodic sprayings kill 98% of it but the remaining stuff divides and grows at an incredible rate. If a nearby pond has it, ducks and other water birds can bring it back. It can be whipped but you have to be on a spraying schedule by somebody that knows ponds. Orkin just doesn't cut it here.

Thanks guys,O.k. I hear you on the fish kill, I have not witnessed that with the duck weed but I did notice it when the water was really shallow one year and we had a bad hot spell.I only found bream and about 3 5gal buckets worth. That was about 10 years ago.My grass carp died after about 8 years.I am checking on things at least a few days a week and would notice from the flies and smell that are attributed with dead fish.As for the crappie they have been there since we bought the place and I have read that the herons bring them in on their legs ,maybe the duckweed too ?I did catch 2 small bass the other day 6-7 " which makes me think that was this past years hatch ? some hope...So about the trees should I take out the trees on the dam,I spent too much time and effort to see things fall apart on that subject!I was thinking also of opening the trees a little on the dam side to possibly allowing more wind to help with the ox. factor. I did look at the wind mill oxygenation ? your thoughts....thanks

Windmills are great when the wind is blowing. However, oxygen crashes occur after several days of cloudy, windless days. They seem to be getting better but I PERSONALLY think the jury is still out on them. Maybe others can give a comment on them.

Herons and other birds don't stock fish but that or ducks is probably where the DW and WM came from.

You can cut the small trees on the dam but those 4 inches or more in diameter can be a problem. If they die, their roots rot which can cause voids in the dam soil.

Would it be a good idea to drop the level of the pond over the winter? My grandparents used to do this when I was young,killed all the veg around the edge of the lakes.We never had problems with the duck weed.Getting back to the thought about excess amounts of the organic material from the leaves in the fall,I really don't have a problem with cutting some of the trees down around the pond.this would allow me to be able to fish from new angles.

I have no experience with drawdowns. In my area it is perennial.

I don't think the drawdown is a good idea. We have a huge drawdown going on in Texas (called a drought). And wherever the water is down, the weeds are alive and well. Mine are on steroids.

Cutting somemore trees out makes sense. It may be you are not getting enough sunlight on the pond. Sunlight adds O2 thru photosynthesis of the flora submerged in the pond. Also, as Todd says, the leaves contribute to the eventual muck on the bottom.

I don't have any experience with windmills, but some aeration is better than none. Do you have power available? That could be the rub.

Best of luck.

Power would be a little challenge but not impossible.I checked on aerators and they are a little too steep for my budget,have you ever herd of dIy units.? I am good at improvising.Am I to wait until spring to see what my fish population looks like? I know it is not going to be a quick fix to get my water right but I really want to start as soon as I can to get things going...thanks guys..I am so grateful to finally feel like I can right this ship in the right direction.!!!

Nick, as far as a DIY aeration unit, check out the aeration forum and read the threads by RC51, a member who did a really nice job building his own system, as well as threads by several others who took his concept and did their own thing with it for their ponds. Lots of great info if you are inclined to that kind of work (unlike myself who couldn't do it even with an aeration for dummies book beside me!).