pond help

[longhollowhunter]

my mamaws place has about a 3 acre pond on it. it used to be in really good shape, all the bluegill and bass and catfish you could haul out of it and awesome frog gigging. however, over time, it has gotten about 1/2 inch of algae on top of it in the warm months, and the cattails have plumb taken over! id like to get this thing back in shape for my upcoming daughter, so when she gets old enough she has a good pond to fish in! any suggestions? ive thought about knocking out the dam, getting dozer in there and cleaning it out, then starting over , fertilizing it and restocking. i just don't know how expensive this route would be. p.s. i believe the main cause of this prblem started about 10 yrs ago when we lost a roll of hay into the corner of the pond. thats when the trouble started. prior to that we always had cattle and horses in there and never an problems.

[CSS archer]

Livestock having access to ponds will always increase algae and sedimentation.

Contact your district fisheries biologist for farm pond management recommendations.

http://fw.ky.gov/kfwis/viewable/fisheries_biologists.gif

[Al]

Yeah livestock in a pond will turn it into pee soup.

[longhollowhunter]

i realize that, but there was livestock in the pond for 20 yrs with no problems. now there is no livestock in the pond. the trouble started when the roll of hay landed in the pond. thanks for the info css archer, ill try to get a hold of the fisheries guy this week.

[EKY.MTN.HUNTER]

if the fisheries people don't come through for you (which Im sure they will) call a few local golf courses and get connected with the grounds crew to see how they maintain their ponds. My dads buddy had the same trouble you are having. He contacted the local golf course and they reccomended some products for him to use, it worked for him. Just thought I would help with a backup plan. give it a good goggle search aswell, there is tons of pond info out there that would help you.

My Dads buddy also rakes his pond before he treats it with algae chemicals. He has a piece of bent up re-bar that has three arms sticking out (looks like a treble hook), he connects it to a chain and drags it across the top of the pond (with floatation) by his tractor. This helps pull alot of the top layer gunk out of the pond before you zap it with the chemicals.

Good luck to ya, keep us posted.

[7mmx2]

I'm not sure if the hay is your problem.

Jone's Fisheries recommends putting a bale of straw or hay into the lake for structure and or cover. If there isn't cover then catfish won't reproduce.

Give them a call. They are pretty knowledgeable. www.jonesfish.com

[smashdn]

In the mid march issue of Succesful Farming there is I think a half page or full page ad for a pond treatment. It had a couple different thing in the kit that you could buy. I know that it was a mix of herbicides, algacides, and even came with some coloring stuff too.

I think that Copper sulfate is a fairly common pond treatment too. I don't know a lot about it but i think it only takes a little.

[randy grider]

It does not need fertilizer, algae growth is an indicator that its plenty fertile.
First off, I'd add some grass carp,Pekin ducks might help too.
You may have to use the bluestone to kill the algae. Last year I used Aquashade, its a blue dye, makes the water just beautifull and blue.
Just follow the directions and don't overtreat!
I never treat mine until it starts getting nasty, then usually one treatment per summer does it. I don't want the fish I eat to be full of Herbicides, thats just me:rolleyes:

[longhollowhunter]

we tried grass carp about 5 years ago, they didn't work. i've been covered up lately between my house and work, but i aim on trying some of those herbicides as quick as i get a chance!