Pond Boss Forums AQUATIC VEGETATION Balance of plants in the environment Cattails vs. Other tall grass

I'm currently planning to build up to three ponds later this year on my land. One about 10-12 acres and a couple in the 2-3 acre range.

In this area, we have a major problem with people sneaking on to private property and harvesting all those fish (deer, mushrooms, etc.) you've gone to the effort of stocking, feeding, etc.

I'm considering planting cattails or some other type of water grass (very tall - maybe 10 feet, grows in water up to couple feet depth, very narrow stem, few leaf blades and really fluffy type head) along the edges to make it difficult to fish from bank and also provide some cover for fish.

P.S. I've checked the statutes and it is still illegal to shoot them... ;( and prosecution would be unlikely to happen as likely would be extremely low priority for state's attorney.

Please advise pros and cons regarding the shoreline protection strategy.

Thanks for your advice!

Jeff

Here are three cons regarding cat tails.

1.) It does not always grow in water up to only a couple of feet deep. I have had it grow in water up to 6 feet deep. I had to erradicate it in one of my ponds as it was taking over.

2.) How will you fish the pond if it is bordered by high cat tails? I had this problem to and it was quite annoying trying to fish around them. However if you plan to slip in and out via boat that could be different.

3.) Cat tails produce alot of deomposing material in the fall when they die. They will eventuall fill in a pond.

I would post the hell out of the property and threaten treapassers with at gunpoint if the cops don't take you seriously. Sometimes people listen when they are staring down the barrel of a gun.

Cecil, Rangersedge,
I get just as upset as you-all when someone steals from me & that's what trespassers & poachers are doing, but be advised: It is a felony to point a gun at anyone who is not threatning your life.
Ric

The purpose of the cattails or other shoreline cover would be to make it so that the pond could only be fished by boat. My thoughts were that I would keep a boat there chained and padlocked to a tree. Only those who I give a key will be able to utilize the boat and most others won't be willing to carry one in for a 1/4 mile.

A friend of mine suggested planting Hawthorn trees around them, but I'm not sure I wanted to introduce a tree like that anywhere close to a farm field.

Trespassing is a major problem around here.

You might want to look at heavy plantings of pampas grass, that grows well beside a natural pond but will not pose anything like a serious invasive problem, long term

Pampas grass is seriously impenetrable, with very sharp saw tooth edges, start out with a number of clumps and you could divide each one four times a year.

It's just as impenetrable in winter, as summer, unless someone burns it down.

Hawthorn tends to grow long and leggy over the years, fairly easy to stoop under leggy stuff like that, it does leave a lot of spiky debris which makes the ground unpleasant to use for all.

Binoculars, night vision goggles and motion detectors may be the only effective remedy to start with for such a large perimeter, if you can cover the approaches to the pond, at least then you will stand some chance of knowing 'when' to be alert... and fret less about intruders...

Rangersedge
I like your idea of on shore plantings better than water based intrusive plants. Yuka is also a discouraging plant to intruders. I'll bet with some research & a fact finding trip to a nursery you could come up with a combo of plants both pleasing to the eye & discouraging to poachers.
Also if you don't mind a few fishermen get to know your the local law enforcement & invite them to fish often .. let them control the poachers.
Ric

Good suggestions! I will check out options such as Pampas and Yuka at a nursery and on the internet.

I've known the County Sheriff on a first name basis for probably 15 or more years. He doesn't really have the resources to monitor the properties and none of the ponds will be visible from the roads.

Thanks!

Dig holes about the size of a persons foot on likely trails. Fill holes with something nasty. Place a note in the hole saying next time it might be worse. They are called pungy pits, but without the pungy. May not stop them but will ruin a night of fishin. That poachin stuff really does cuase a lot of heartburn. Oh ya, cover the holes with small twigs, then grass or dirt as necessary.

Rangersedge,
If the dep.'s are fishermen & you provide them with a good fishery they will probably help you out on their own time!
Ric

I really doubt any person's ability to catch the trespassers very well. The site is too secluded and too accessible from different approaches. I've caught a few trespassers over the years, but think my best results will be to make it difficult for them to fish the pond without a boat.

I've searched on Pampas Grass. Those sharp edges could greatly help keep people from fishing it from bank. My only concern is that several sites described the grass as an invasive plant and dealt with its removal. Would it spread too easily? The spreading is my concern with the Hawthorne trees. I battle multiflora roses every year...

I've learned a lot from this site and feel that we are getting close to the ideal solution. Keep the suggestions coming!

Try prickly pear (cactus)around your bank. It grows very well and if someone tries to fish your pond you can tell they were there because they would have to knock the bushes down to get close.(If they can knocked it down and not get full of torns)Anyway were is the entrance for your boat or to get to your boat in the water?

as far as the poaching...yah, too bad you get in trouble for firing a few rounds AT them, but "your honor, how was i to know they were standing near that can i had set up there to target practice at, i mean...didn't they see the no trespassing sign?!!" actually i think the best thing to do is make a strong legal example of the first few trespassers you catch. get the game warden and the law involved, then get the word out the Mr. X pond owner means business, you better stay off his property if you don't have permission. or before the problem even starts, have a friend of yours tell his barber that he heard you caught some body on the pond, and they got all of their tackle seized, and paid a large fine and had to do community service...yahhhh, use the power of rumors!!! get that barber to spread that rumor, or your local liquor store owner to talk it up!! before you know it rumor has it that you patrol the pond at various times of the day, with revolvers on each side, and they've nicknamed you Josey Wales!!!! mark

I heard a story, may or may not have been true, about a guy who found some poachers fishing on his land. He ignited the grass and brush around their pickup, called the local Volunteer Fire Dept. and the Sheriff. Then filed charges on them for trespass and for burning up some of his pasture. Seems like it might work.

The big pond (10 - 12 acres) is progressing as you can see under the dam building section. My strategy right now is to make it more difficult for them to get to the site by blocking the creek crossing from the highway. That way, they have to either drive on private property past my house or walk about a 1/4 mile.

I also think I might put up a few rifle targets with safe backstops and do some target practicing in that area.

I will also put up signs and patrol it some while investigating other options such as pampass grass and etc. more.

Try these signs. Trespassers will be Violated. , Surviving Trespassers will be Prosecuted! and Trespassers will be beaten, whipped,slapped upside the head,tarred & feathered, stomped kicked and cussed out till almost dead ... prior to prosecution to the fullest extent of the law!