Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Creating habitat Plants for bass

Hey guys here in Nebraska we have had a bit of a bad drought. With the pond down pretty far. We have quite a bit of shore line exposed. I was wondering what could I plant to help improve the habitat for the bass. When we stocked it when it was put in back in 2010 we put in about a dozen grass carp for a 2.5 acre pond. Dad thought that was to many and starting shooting the carp because he thought they were hunting the bass by eating to many of the plants.

Lots of good options for you when the pond is down.

Bass generally like "fluffy cover" rather than weeds - but they will certainly take any cover they can get to ambush their meals.

Here is one of the good PB threads on cover.

Pond Boss Thread - Cover

You can add anything from hardwood tree branches to PVC "trees" and everything in between to benefit your bass. When the PB experts have reviewed people's ponds on the forum, the consensus is almost always that the pond could use more cover!

You can also add some terrestrial plants now, that will benefit the bottom of your food chain. When your water level got very low, I expect the bass and BG ate much of the forage species in the pond, and the tiny organisms in the pond the feed fish fry might have also been severely reduced.

You could actually plant some wheat or annual rye that would grow quickly. If you get some rains, then those plants will provide excellent cover for all of your forage species. Re-flooding will kill any terrestrial plants, but the plant structures should mostly last into the fall. Lots of other options too. What seeds do you guys normally handle on your property?

You may also be asking about water plants. Now would be a good time to start those since you can easily walk to the current water's edge and plant things by the temporary shoreline that will then by X feet deep when your pond goes back to normal pool. There are lots of good threads you can search for that information.

Good luck on your pond rehab project!

I like to clutter things up with brush piles, big cedars, etc.

A consideration is that most life forms, us included, orient on structure. If we were confined in a 100 x 100 yard field with one tree or big rock, that is where we would spend most of our time.

bassman, I went through drought in east Texas last year, my pond got three feet low. FishinRod called it right, the prey fish got hammered. In my case, BG and CNBG in the three to five inch range almost disappeared, as they were perfect eating size for the bass and had to abandon shallow protective cover. I've stocked 1,500 more CNBG, but it will take some time for them to grow. On the other hand, there are tons of small just hatched CNBG & BG, as they somehow know the pond is now underpopulated.

While stocking is an (expensive) option, you may also wish to seize this opportunity to enhance panfish spawning areas. Rounded pea gravel, (no sharp edges), sand, etc placed in pretty level shallows (when the pond fills) are a good idea. Also you can put some brush surrounding the spawning areas so YOY can hide & grow. The better they do, the better your bass will eat. And as B Lusk points out, just spawned BG go from 12,000 per pound to 35 per pound in only 45 days.

Best of luck, and remember that eventually it will rain again!

Yea, I would use some died trees... and plant fast growing terrestrial plants that will provide shelter for a long time after being flooded.

I’m suffering from a record setting heat wave. My spring fed creek is history. My small 1/4 acre green sunfish pond will probably go in the next couple of weeks. My 2 to 3 acre pond is about 5 to 6 ft low and is now less than acre. Cedars that I installed in the water around the banks about 60 days ago are now high and dry. Next 10 days forecast is from 102 to 112+.

Been here before but it’s been about 25 years. Wondering/worrying about the wildlife. Still seeing some deer but very few small animals. Pigs appear to have left my place.

Right now, lots of worry about fires.