On pond about 15 acres in size. I've been told it's 17 but my math is closer to 15. The red areas all grow weeds until the water depths hit about 8 ft. Deepest part of the pond is around 16 ft and all flat clay bottom. I was.told it was dug to 20 ft but it average around 12-14. Tons of crappie. I haven't found a decent sized bluegill yet. Lots of white perch which I hate as well. Good size bass but summer catching any decent sized bass is HARD. Spring and fall I usually pull multiple 5lbs bass a week. The south end has weeds all summer (red x). It's not even worth swimming or fishing whereas the north end where I live is better and only grows weeds on the edges as shown. Neighbors have no interest in aerating the whole pond but I was wondering if I threw 3 diffusers on the north end in 10-12 ft of water if it would help fishing? Thoughts on removing some of the weeds with a weed rake or is it better to simply herbicide an area? I've been told I need better structure in the deeper parts of the pond as it's all flat bottom and no stumps or brush. Any advice is greatly appreciated! I had a pond guy come out and he said the pond was healthy and if anything he'd simply do a large aerator and sink some trees but he also told me the white perch was a shad which I thought he was correct until I started catch them like crazy. Debating stocking a couple pike or muskies.
Welcome especially to another pond owner from MI!! This is great that there are few of us in MI meeting up here and sharing our experiences.
Can you please take picture and share with us what a 'white perch' is? I'm not sure we can give good advice without knowing what it is. I'm also not sure why you hate them or why the pond guy had a hard time identifying them as well.
Can you tell us more about how long the pond was there or how it was dug and stocked? Were you the person who stocked it? Do you feel there is enough forage food for the top end predators (what types of minnows do you have? Crayfish, etc)
Your solution for weeds again depends on what kind they are and how deep they are. If your shallows have american pond weed or curly pond weed or eel grass or other native and desirable weeds then you would want to keep them in place. If you have a type of weed that is considered 'nuisance' or 'invasive' like chara or eurasian milfoil then you may be better off spot treating in the northern pond. The southern pond that is choked full you may choose to treat the whole pool of water with fluridone. However treating a whole pond requires steady chemical levels for about a month so if you have inflow of water it may not work. I can't tell how the ponds connect in the picture or if there is a feeder creek, or if they are ground water/run off ponds only.
True "white perch" are actually a type of bass from genus Morone. The other species in the genus are the White Bass, Striped Bass, and the Yellow Bass.
Since the OP is in Michigan, then they certainly could be White Perch. I believe there is a chance they could also be Yellow Bass. I do not believe that either species would be desirable in his ponds! I believe it is analogous to having a pond with a large population of stunted crappie. However, Michigan is far from any places that I have fished, so the experts should feel free to correct me on any bad information!
Dergib,
What is the water source for your ponds? The reason I ask is that it might be better for you to start over again with exactly the fish species you want rather than spending years fighting an unwinnable war. If you just have surface water running in from fields then you have 100% control. If a creek sometimes floods and those waters reach your ponds, then your population will contain fish from the creek populations. I hate to lose 5# LMB, but you might be better off in the medium run and the long run doing a fish kill if you have 100% control of your water inputs.
I think everyone on the forum will agree with the advice for "more structure". LMB actually need some structure to feed efficiently since they are typically "ambush" predators. If they had more timber in medium and deep water, then they might be able to eat more of your white perch.
I assume your ponds get heavy ice cover in the winter? If so, some of our northern members have used the ice cover to place heavy items in position, and then the spring thaw gets the structure to the pond bottom.
Do you have any plants around the shoreline? Some plantings at the edge will utilize nutrients from the pond and make less available to your undesirable aquatic plants. However, you need plants that spread at the rate you want. (Typically that is slowly to almost no spreading.)
Another option is pond dyes. You have some long days during the summer being that far north. I think if you let all of your pond life get started properly in the spring, then your pond may be fertile enough, that you can cut some sunlight to the aquatic plants during the summer and barely affect the overall productivity of your pond.
If you give some more information about your pond and your goals, then maybe the aeration experts will weigh in with some good advice.
Dergib - CanyonC has some very good suggestions; heed them. Of course the "pond guy" says he would add a large aerator - $ sales for them. IAerator maybe not necessary in 15acres. If he did not tell you what the names of the weeds were; I would not use them again. IMO no need to sink trees until the weeds are gone or a lot less abundance. Both Sunken trees and weeds are both good habitat. With lots of weeds the pond has plenty of cover maybe TOO much hiding place cover which is why the pond has too many small fish; bas cannot find the hiding fish. Ideally cover should encompass about 25%-30% of the shoreline for producing the best fishery. Sounds like the pond has a lot more weed growth than 30% which becomes too much resulting in too many small fish. IMO more bass and fewer weeds are needed.
How big is the small pond and what is the main goal of having it or using it.?
Adding pike or musky could very well end up eating more bass than BG or the other problem fish. IMO you need MORE bass predators not fewer. If you had to eat / swallow everything whole, what would you rather swallow a hot dog or can lid??? A pike knows the difference. Smaller bass are slender bodied (fusiform) similar to hot dogs & sausage.
Last edited by Bill Cody; 08/18/2311:24 AM.
aka Pond Doctor & Dr. Perca Read Pond Boss Magazine - America's Journal of Pond Management
Sorry for the delay. Was in Wisconsin and then home to 7 inches of rain in 5 hours...water everywhere. The goal of the pond is simply enjoyment and longevity. I love waterfowl, particularly wood ducks, so I'm trying to attract them now. In the spring and fall I pull large bass out frequently but come summer I can't find them. To the 4 owners on the pond, nobody knows what was stocked. One neighbor threw some fish in he caught from a local pond years ago but other than that it would've been stocked back in the 80s. The neighbor said he caught a good size pike 3 years ago but I haven't hooked into any. Right now I know there are largemouth, bluegill, yellow perch, white crappie, bullhead catfish, and carp. Possibly white perch as well if confirmed from the picture below. I've seen some minnows but not sure what type. I assume they are minnows because I see them school up in the water. There are numerous frogs and at least 3 snapping turtles. Got some muskrats that I'm trying to kill now because they are destroying my shoreline. I've killed all the phragmites on my shoreline and have planted some native plants to stabilize the shoreline and also provide habitat for the frogs. I know there are also large fresh water clams. Largest bass was 23.75 inches and 7.5 lbs.
Here are the weeds and the fish. I believe the fish to be a white perch. Not sure on the weeds. I want to say the individual said it was floating leaf pondweed and water milfoil. The pond is groundwater fed. Neighbor says spring fed but it's simply a high water table with an underground source but not a spring. The small pond actually connect to the big pond through a channel about 20 ft wide and 7 feet deep. Again, my apologies for the delay. I will say with the pond being up over 3 feet from the rain I've seen a TON of small fish. Bluegills, baby bass, baby cats, and what appears to be minnows. The herons and commorants have had a field day.
Yes to the White Perch. Look up American Pondweed to see if that matches what you are seeing. As for the other plant, it's too fuzzy of a picture and too dried out to ID. Or it's starting to die - plants aren't typically that curly.
Yes definitely American Pond weed. Is that good? It's tough to fish through as even weedless like to. Get hung up and not make it to the bottom. Seems to hide the baitfisj and the small Fry's well. Trying to find where that weed came from. Thanks so much for the help
Yes definitely American Pond weed. Is that good? It's tough to fish through as even weedless like to. Get hung up and not make it to the bottom. Seems to hide the baitfisj and the small Fry's well. Trying to find where that weed came from. Thanks so much for the help
It's good for a pond unless it gets to be too obtrusive. You need underwater weeds in the pond to utilize nutrients or the nutrients will grow algae, which is even harder to fish through. It's a balancing act that you have to perform between not enough weeds and too many.
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