Originally Posted by FishinRod
The amount of cover in the large reservoirs has to degrade at Year 5 and beyond, doesn't it?

The amount of cover and structure that people put in their ponds as a % of surface area is MUCH higher than the amount in the larger reservoirs.

In the early years, the reservoirs have flooded weeds and shrubs and timber that all degrade substantially over the time period from the initial explosion of forage through Year 5 when the predator mass has finally exploded.

Even the rock and stumps in the shallow water lose some of their structure aspect as eroded sediments settle down around them.

As brush piles decay in managed ponds, it is possible for the manager to return the amount of cover to its initial state. I don't think that would be possible in the large reservoirs.

I would expect the decreasing cover would mostly impact the amount of available forage. In a pond, this could be mitigated by supplemental feedings. That would not be feasible for the large reservoirs.

(Just my two cents - as a definite NON-expert.)

That's not true all the time. In my experience, it is less than what is in the larger reservoirs. A customer put 2 root balls in a 1 acre pond and thought it was plenty. There are a lot of people out there like that.

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