Hey guys, I have about 3 acre tank that I dug in 2010. It was leaking so I came back in dug it a little deeper and lined it bottom with a better clay material that was scraped from my property.

The tank has two levels, the first level is about 7' deep and the second level is about 14' deep at full pool. Right now I think my deepest water is about 10'.

Here is my question. I have a slim moss material in the tank. Every cast you make you have to pull this material off your bait. I have been told this is a result of the phosphorus level and it needs to be addressed in the winter.

Is this something that could be addressed now and again in the winter?

Any help would be great.

"Slim moss"? Probably filamentous algae.

Since you're talking about casting, I assume you've already stocked the lake with bass and forage? What is your water clarity like? If it's relatively clear, you're going to have a problem with algae and vegetation. Particularly since, right now, we're talking about level one at 3' and level two at 10'. Hot weather and beating sunshine are only going to accelerate the growth of vegetation.

I'm no fisheries guy and we have several darned good ones here. Hopefully, they will come along. It may be as simple as fertilizing the lake in the right way, or some other "natural" solution. Tilapia are algae feeders, they're cheap and are wonderful bass forage that reproduce much faster than feral hogs. However, if you live north, they're going to die when the water dips into the 50's and you could have a mess on your hands, depending on predator/prey ratios.

Again, hopefully fishbreeder, Meadowlark or another expert will reply to your question.

Good luck!

Thanks Fouzman....

I have stocked it twice...this has been a major project and it has been frustrating at times to say the least.

I stocked it the first time in June of 2010 and the tank leaked really bad and went dry.....

Dug it again in early 2011, restocked again in April 2011. Caught quite a bit of water and was actually at full pool heading into the summer, tank held great through the summer and fall. The water level did go down quite a bit, but the tank held up and I was catching 10"-11" fish in January 2012 on a topwater frog. It was really a crazy thing.

The spring of 2012 was awesome. We were catching tons of fish in the 10"-13" range. I could not believe how fast those fish grew. You could catch 10-15 fish out of one tree. Move down to a rock pile and catch 6-7 and work your way around the tank and catch them at every stop. The kids were down there every day. You could catch them during the day or night.

As we progressed through the summer and into the fall, the numbers caught went down drastically and the size of the fish was getting smaller. Late fall you zero on most occasions. And if you did catch one it was less than 10". I could not figure out what was going on. I knew that something was not right.

In March of 2013, we found a dead otter in our ditch, looked like someone had run it over. I think he cleaned the tank out - he was fat.

Since March we haven't caught much at all. We've been out fishing the last 7 days just to see what's in the tank and we have caught a total of 7 fish. All have been under 9". Last year at this time, you would see alot of fish in the shallow areas, bass and bluegill both. The kids would feed the fish and there was alot of activity. Now, when you try and feed, you may see a fish or two pop the surface.

I'm trying to decide if I should restock, or if I should just be patient and hope what I have left can replenish.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be great.

I would restock the gills to get them going if you still have bass let them come back if you have more gills then bass your bass will come back better then ever with the surplus of forage fish

Thanks flybug....

I was thinking I would do 100 bluegill, 100 bass, and add more fatheads just to add to what I have. Not sure if this is the thing to do or not...

Send a water sample to your county extension agent. They'll either run it for free or send it to one of the A&M branches for analysis. Copper sulphate will wipe out filamentous algae but you have to have alkalinity between 50 and 250 ppm(mg/L) or it is dangerous to fish (low alk) or ineffective (high alk). There are some other chemicals that will do the trick, but many of them are also dependent on water quality characteristics.

As mentioned, tilapia like filamentous too.

It'll be dangerous to fertilize a shallow clear pond right now. Whatever you do, don't fertilize until you've killed the filamentous or you'll just fuel the flame. If you get all the weeds killed out of it you might consider fertilizer to get a planktonic algae bloom going, but I'd still be weary of it. An alternative would be to use an aquatic dye like aquashade. That will turn the water green and reduce light reaching the bottom (where the filamentous algae starts growing). That is a temporary fix and will only slow or stop submerged weeds, it won't kill them. Next year, you may try fertilizing around March-April when the water starts warming to get the planktonic algae a boost; shoot for around 60 degrees to start. Once they get started, you should be good on submerged weeds assuming the pond has enough free nutrients; poor soil or water quality can bind up nutrients needed for planktonic algae growth.

I differ to the other guys for stocking recommendations, it is a bit of an art form and I don't have the practice. Though, I would suggest going heavier on bluegills and lighter on bass. In Arkansas, we recommend a 10-1 bluegill-bass fingerling ratio and a 5-1 bluegill-bass adult ratio when stocking.

I feel your pain Madermu with those otters. They can really eat some fish in a quick hurry. I had them just about clean out a pond...and I decided to just wait and let Nature restock from what was there. That has proven to be a "too slow" process for me.

In retrospect, I think I should have reloaded on the bluegills pretty much as if it were a new pond...about 1000 per acre. On the bass, I would go lighter than the 100 per acre I normally use and ony go about 1/2 of that or less.

Those Otters may be fun loving and appear to be lovable creatures but they absolutely wreek havoc on pond fish and won't stop until they get most all of them.

Thanks outdoordude and meadowlark.

I think I am going to use the advice that you both have given.

I am going to stock the blue gills, some fat head minnows and maybe half the bass of the original stocking....

If I need to alter this, let me know, I'm placing an order tomorrow.

Thanks again

No more work for a biologist 'round here....these guys raise some nice fish and have a good handle on making a pond productive.

Watch out for that filamentous when stocking, clear out a spot that will allow the fish to get to the deeper water without getting hung up too bad.

Doing a simple water test then using copper sulfate if appropriate as an algae control is a good idea. To get a quick idea of the alkalinity, hardness and pH, you can buy an inexpensive test kit or test strips at an aquarium shop. This will not nail down the "numbers" to within a ppm, but can surely tell you if you got alkalinity, pH, and hardness in the right range.

Lots of places need liming, knowing the pH, hardness and alkaliniyt can help decide if and what kind.

Had trouble catching a fish might or might not have been strictly otter. One of the things about ponds is that the fish get conditioned very quickly. They might start out dumb but it doesn't last.