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#525059 08/22/20 10:21 PM
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We're gonna get lots of clouds, rain, and wind if current forecasts are correct. Any special steps to get our ponds ready?


7ac 2015 CNBG RES FHM 2016 TP FLMB 2017 NLMB GSH L 2018 TP & 70 HSB PK 2019 TP RBT 2020 TFS TP 25 HSB 250 F1,L,RBT -206 2021 TFS TP GSH L,-312 2022 GSH TP CR TFS RBT -234, 2023 BG TP TFS NLMB, -160




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Doubt there is much you can do but wait and see.... I’m west of ya and I sure hope to see some rain here..... but I doubt it

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I would like to see some rain but not the type I have seen from some rain events. Like the 9 to 20" events I have seen from some of the Hurricanes. Be careful what you wish for. smile


Do not judge me by the politicians in my City, State or Federal Government.


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Originally Posted by TGW1
I would like to see some rain but not the type I have seen from some rain events. Like the 9 to 20" events I have seen from some of the Hurricanes. Be careful what you wish for. smile

Tracy it’s just water...... we on a hill....when I lived in pearland near the coast we went through one of those big rain events... 50”

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My BOW is about 18 inches below full pool, the lowest by far it has been this year. So unless we get 10 plus inches, shouldn't be any issue handling rain. Don't know how it will mix the anoxic water on bottom, however.


7ac 2015 CNBG RES FHM 2016 TP FLMB 2017 NLMB GSH L 2018 TP & 70 HSB PK 2019 TP RBT 2020 TFS TP 25 HSB 250 F1,L,RBT -206 2021 TFS TP GSH L,-312 2022 GSH TP CR TFS RBT -234, 2023 BG TP TFS NLMB, -160




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Pat, It's only water. Thats funny! I think it was Rita that came through Shreveport yr's back and dumped around 20" we had bass boats going up and down the street after that event. I did not get any water in the house but others did. I don't live at that address any more but I would not wish that event on anyone. like Frank, I could use some water at the pond. 12" would be just fine. smile After just watching the weather channel the first one might miss me, maybe but the second one is said it will be much larger storm and looks like it might dump some rain on us.

Last edited by TGW1; 08/23/20 06:32 PM.

Do not judge me by the politicians in my City, State or Federal Government.


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We need some rain here - my pond is about 3' low. Weird year. We have had enough rain to keep things fairly green but not enough to fill the pond. Bought this place in 2014 and this is the first time it has not hit full pool at least twice per year. Its tough when July, Aug and Sept hits and the pond is not at full pool in June. I have lots of clay on all of the land, once the ground saturates it all runs to the pond. If the ground is saturated my pond will fill up fast.

We had 29" during Harvey and was almost a major disaster. When I bought the place the old overflow on the pond was a sieve down to the mud line so about 2 months before Harvey I had filled it with cement, cut a ditch in the dam and installed 24" black culvert poly pipe - corrugated. My dad has a backhoe so we did it ourselves. I had set a couple of posts on each side of the culvert pipe - can't even remember why. because the old overflow had leaked down to the mud line the pond was really low - probably 6' at least. I was excited when Harvey started dumping rain until I looked out the window at the pond. The neighbor's upstream pond spills into a creek bed that flows into my pond and his pond is probably 10' - 15' higher elevation then mine so his spilling into my pond and the saturated ground causing complete run off on my land plus the rain - my pond filled really fast.

Instead of the water entering the culvert pipe the corrugated poly pipe was bending and the water was pushing the end of the pipe up. It was dangerously close to ripping out the pipe which would have been a disaster. Luckily the dam is tall and we had buried it pretty deep. If we hadn't buried it deep it would have ripped out. I had to call my dad and get him to come over with the hoe and push the pipe back down while I put a cross member between the posts I had set to keep it held down. He reminded me in not so repeatable language that we were in a #%$&% hurricane but he did it.

That poly culvert seems really stiff but it sure got flexible with the force of the water. I was really lucky that we had buried it deep, that I had set the posts and that the clay swells so much and doesn't wash out. Also, I didn't know but when the water gets high enough it breaches around the side of the dam that is the lowest. The water can never breach the top of the dam because it runs around the low side and into a pasture. Luckily it breached the low side before the culvert got ripped out. If the low side had probably been just one or two feet higher I probably would have lost the pond. My very poor planning was offset by very fortunate circumstances.

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Mister A, when a pond is dug, typically there will be a primary and a secondary overflow. The secondary overflow kicks in when the primary overflow is overwhelmed, and could be just a low spot at the end of the dam that is either riprap or well rooted grass. The water velocity is critical in an earthen emergency overflow because if it is too fast it can erode the dam and the dam could fail.

If ya'll are expecting a lot of rain, and the pond has a thermocline set up in it, ya'll might have a fish kill if the pond turns over.


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Thanks for the info. The low side or secondary overflow (I can call it that now that I know it was probably built that way intentionally) is quite flat and spills into a large pasture. We have had overflow to the secondary twice and once it hits that level the water is moving but not terribly fast. Even during Harvey we could walk through it - you could feel it pushing on you but not enough to keep from getting through it and it's only about a foot deep - big area though. Seems like it was well thought out when built 30 - 40 years ago.

When I bought the place I tried to fish quite a bit and never had any luck at all. I had convinced myself that everything died in the drought of 2011 although we were told the pond didn't go dry. After Harvey we did indeed have a fish kill - not many but pretty decent sized bass. I hadn't found Pond Boss at the time and didn't understand what was happening. Since the original spillover was leaking the pond was always about 3.5' low and then would get another 3' or so lower during the summer. With the new spillover (same spill elevation as the original) and the pond now holding higher levels it is amazing how much the entire ecosystem has improved. I have stocked BG twice and CC once but never LMB. Regardless, once we stocked BG and the pond holds a nice level - even when low - I have caught some nice LMB. There aren't a lot and I have to fish hard but I catch all sizes and quite a few little guys so I know they are starting to replenish themselves. I am now catching 8" BG also which are outstanding eating.

I put in aeration in June so I am hopeful that will solve any fish kill issues. I really appreciate the input.

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If you guys get more than you need, just shove it NNW, about 70 miles from Cowtown.


It's not about the fish. It's about the pond. Take care of the pond and the fish will be fine. PB subscriber since before it was in color.

Without a sense of urgency, Nothing ever gets done.

Boy, if I say "sic em", you'd better look for something to bite. Sam Shelley Rancher and Farmer Muleshoe Texas 1892-1985 RIP
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Hopefully we will get enough for everyone - since I have become a land and pond owner I have learned to never complain about rain.

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If you have some trophy fishes would putting a net near the overflow make sense so you dont lose em?


Im going to ask a lot of questions, but only because I'm clueless


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I can't speak from personal experience but I believe there were some PB Magazine articles that hit on the topic. One article, I believe by Bob Lusk, warned against putting obstructions in front of anywhere water overflows. If debris gets clogged in the net, wire mesh, etc then the water will find the next path of least resistance which might be washing out the dam. As far as fish escaping, I believe I have read that LMB (assume your trophy are LMB) tend to actually stay at home if the water is moving fast. They will escape if the water is still. So at my place if the water is moving fast through the overflow they will likely stay in the pond but if the water breaches around the dam the water is covering much more area and therefore moving slower so they might head out that way. I believe that was also PB Magazine article.

There are folks here that are probably more help and might even be able to provide a link.

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Originally Posted by CityDad
If you have some trophy fishes would putting a net near the overflow make sense so you dont lose em?

In my experience the small fish are much more eager to escape than large ones. Last time I had water going over the emergency spillway there were hundreds of small bluegill stranded, but no large fish of any type.


7ac 2015 CNBG RES FHM 2016 TP FLMB 2017 NLMB GSH L 2018 TP & 70 HSB PK 2019 TP RBT 2020 TFS TP 25 HSB 250 F1,L,RBT -206 2021 TFS TP GSH L,-312 2022 GSH TP CR TFS RBT -234, 2023 BG TP TFS NLMB, -160




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Lusk sez that fish try to go upstream in a flood/highwater event/lots of incoming water. The smaller fish wind up going through overflow pipe and "run arounds".


It's not about the fish. It's about the pond. Take care of the pond and the fish will be fine. PB subscriber since before it was in color.

Without a sense of urgency, Nothing ever gets done.

Boy, if I say "sic em", you'd better look for something to bite. Sam Shelley Rancher and Farmer Muleshoe Texas 1892-1985 RIP
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Looks like tropical storm winds will be headed out of the northeast at my BOW. That relieves me a bit, as if it were blowing out of the southwest it would pile up against the dam.


7ac 2015 CNBG RES FHM 2016 TP FLMB 2017 NLMB GSH L 2018 TP & 70 HSB PK 2019 TP RBT 2020 TFS TP 25 HSB 250 F1,L,RBT -206 2021 TFS TP GSH L,-312 2022 GSH TP CR TFS RBT -234, 2023 BG TP TFS NLMB, -160




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Originally Posted by CityDad
If you have some trophy fishes would putting a net near the overflow make sense so you dont lose em?
Probably not a good idea. Mesh small enough to capture small fish would catch a lot of trash too. My grass carp fence on the emergency spillway is made with rebar on 2" centers, and it flows well but it does allow smaller fish to escape.

We went from a forecast of almost 3" to nada. Laura's moving slowly, so that could dump lot's of coastal rain.


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I am 75 miles NW of downtown Houston - we got a whopping 1/2" of rain. Of course that 1/2" came this morning when my wife and I were out walking and still a mile from the house. Weather radar said we were safe til noon. Oh well, as I said before, have learned to never complain about rain!

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To all in the path, I wish you well and hope you and your loved ones are well and safe.


It isn't what we don't know that gives us trouble, it's what we know that ain't so - Will Rogers


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Only got 1.2 inches of rain, wish it were more. Glad the winds weren't bad, though.


7ac 2015 CNBG RES FHM 2016 TP FLMB 2017 NLMB GSH L 2018 TP & 70 HSB PK 2019 TP RBT 2020 TFS TP 25 HSB 250 F1,L,RBT -206 2021 TFS TP GSH L,-312 2022 GSH TP CR TFS RBT -234, 2023 BG TP TFS NLMB, -160




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We got 0” frown wished it was more

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1" here. I found one oak limb burning under a tree yesterday morning, but I couldn't find any lightning damage to the oak tree itself.

Last edited by FireIsHot; 08/28/20 07:33 AM. Reason: ADD

AL

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Hey everybody.

It's been quite some time since I've visited the site, and all has been good until now.

We were just on the edge of the western eyeball of Laura and had 6.5" of rain in the gauge, but 140+ mph winds probably screwed that reading considerably.

Everything was going well, then the pond turned black as burnt oil and with the generator dedicated to the house for 13 days, there was no aeration on the pond until we got power back. Yesterday I found all my adult bass, from 1-4 lbs, several big crappie and virtually every BG over 5" floating dead. I had my surface aeration back in action, but apparently it wasn't enough.

I'm sure the pond has become stagnant and tannic, as now a brown scum is starting to develop and I've seen several BH catfish sucking air.

I NEED SUGGESTIONS QUICK!

I'm running the bottom aeration now, but will have to relinquish that to nighttime due to the heat.

I'm considering building some kind of charcoal filter I can add to the waterfall pump to try to clear up the water and reduce nutrients. Here's my question...

If I load the bottom of the 5 gallon bucket my pump is housed in with lump charcoal, will pulling water over that medium to be sprayed back into the pond have any benefits for the pond?


.10 surface acre pond, 10.5 foot deep. SW LA. The epitome of a mutt pond. BG, LMB, GSF, RES, BH, Warmouth, Longear Sunfish, Gambusia,Mud Minnows, Crappie, and now shiners!!...I subscribe!!
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I have a small pond (100' x 80' more or less) maybe 6' at the deepest. After the hurricane, there were a couple of mid sized pine limbs in the pond. We removed them. Several dead bass. There is now a film (dark blue?) over the pond. It no longer stinks and there is no algae (yet). Several turtles. I don't know anything about ponds at all. I have other things to focus from the hurricane (much of the barn roof is gone...) but I'd like to keep the pond as healthy as I can.

Any idea what causes the film? I'm told by locals that it has to do with the pond "turning over" (?) during the storm. No clue here...

Thanks for any suggestions,

Mike

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Pond turnover means the water at the bottom of the pond comes to the surface and the surface water heads to the bottom. It is not unusual to get turnover after heavy rain events if your pond has developed a thermocline - portion of the water column where the temperature of the water changes significantly. The water at the bottom of the pond generally has poor dissolved oxygen - fish will tend to hang out where the DO is best. When the pond turns, the fish are hanging out in the upper part of the water column and when the low DO bottom water hits the upper water column the fish basically suffocate. If you read enough on here you will see that aeration is a popular topic. Aeration, when done properly, provides a more consistent DO level throughout the water column. I had a turn over fish kill after Harvey - wasn't bad but it was enough for me to do the research and figure out what happened.

That's the Cliff Notes on pond turnover. Having said all that - I do not know if turnover is that big a problem in shallow small ponds such as yours. Max depth of 6' is not that deep so there isn't much water column in which to develop a thermocline and get DO stratified especially if your max 6' depth is a small area. But, as noted, I don't know so maybe someone else on here can tell you.

There are trees that are actually bad for fish for various reasons - black walnut and oak for example. I just learned this myself last week on this forum so no expert but you might do some research. A small pond such as yours with small water volume may be more susceptible to any type of contamination - maybe even something the storm blew in that has nothing to do with your place.

Hope this information helps or at least gives you a place to start researching. Good Luck..................

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