There are two types of plankton that I'm always concerned about in the pond:phytoplankton is the plant form that produces the pea green color,and zooplankton ,the animal form which feeds on the phytoplankton. Zooplankton will color the water brown and its this form that the paddlefish thrive on.

I'm not a biologist so hopefully one of our members will chime in with a more accurate description for you. By the way,I wasn't trying to be a salesman for Bob Lusk,but the books he wrote have been of great help to me and he explains plankton "bloom" in them.

Typically,I will find floating in spring a grass carp but never a PF.My GC seem to survive for approx.15-17 years. I know that PF will live a lot longer than that. Also,you may not see them float because many fish will sink to the bottom at death.

I am curious about the mortality rate through the years.Thus far I've not found a good answer.

RAH,I hope at least some of them survived for you. When I did see them they were not skittish at all. One big ole girl (hopefully) swam under my 15 ft.flat bottom boat even with my trolling mtr. on!

That has never happened with my GC. They spook very easily.

BTW.Years ago,a couple buddies and I were invited to fish a large pond near Batesville,Ind. with a guy by the name of Jack Doll. Seems his relations owned the farm with the pond in the middle of their fields.