esshup, I'm relating very well with your predicament. I used pond dye this spring just to see if it would help the bad FA I had last year. I would say it did well at first at least. Then whether it was timing of water warm up or if it was timing with my first lawn fertilizer application, but I have an explosion like you. It seems mostly floating (last fall I had a carpet on the bottom of the pond). I feel I can rake most of it without having to wade out too far. But that sounds a lot like work in this heat we have been having. I then hope that it is providing some cover for young minnows while I build up courage and time.
I have been too busy to put out my turtle floats, partly because last year they were big logs that I couldn't keep floating the right way up. I have ideas in my head on making my own like others on the forum did but no time and energy again.
I also didn't put out my SFS spawning structures same reason, need to make some more, no time. But I saw the other day a fair number of sliver sized minnows cruising around so once again the SFS found their own structure!! I do have pallets in so maybe they used them somehow. My first goal is to pull the pallets out, clean algae off and use my circular saw to create some 'crevices' or grooves of various depths and widths and see if that will help.
Please tell us how your WE do. Will they stay feed trained? Will you be able to witness them eat the pellets or will they only feed at night? How fast will they grow?
How low is your pond and will you have to keep the depth at full depth to help assure their success in a 'groundwater pond' or is that a myth about Walleye?
