Didn't actually do anything physical with the pond this weekend other than marveling at how nice everything appears while sitting on my deck with some cold beer.
The massive rains we got during the week super filled my pond. The water came up over the dock for a day or so. More was coming in than going out. Our curiosity was finally satisfied as to how full it would be once the outflow equilibrated the surface level. When it settled, it's about one inch below the platform of the dock. You could literally ride a kayak off the water on to the dock. Its a bit higher than I am comfortable with but I will see how the water settles from here and ride it on out for awhile.
The algae seems to have lessened but right now the water is brown from the heavy inflow. I've noticed this Spring as the pond has been filling that each time the level would rise, we would get a burst of algae. I think the newly inundated shoreline must be pretty fertile. I am not going to worry about it for now. Only once did it seem to get pretty extensive and after treatment with Cutrine and installing the aeration it has yet to get like that again.
We walk the banks and look for any sign of fish life. We started feeding right after we put the fish in a couple weeks ago but after a few days and no takers, I decided to pause for awhile. I finally spotted two fish after the flooding. One was a bluegill or redear fry that was in a spillway puddle. I tried to chase it back into the pond but lost sight of it. The other fish was a dead FHM laying on the dock when the water receded off of it.
My oldest daughter stopped by yesterday. She's itching to go fishing. I told her to bring very tiny hooks if she's that desperate. I will be trying to catch a few as the summer goes on though. I want to check their growth and health.
