and it's been in the back yard this whole time, we just never knew it had fish in it.
The MIL has a pond on her property I'm guessing roughly 1/3 of an acre, kind of in a horse shoe shape. The wife went out there a few months ago to try and fish it and see if there was anything in it. Much to our surprise, it has bass, forage fish and at least one huge cat in it. Fished it a couple times trying to document what we caught, but for the most part, have been leaving it alone. Went back yesterday (so as to avoid the lake traffic) and it has LOTS of vegetation in it. Made it almost impossible to fish, although I did manage one bass.

All this being said, I'd really like learn more about how to turn this into a managed pond for some fun fishing every now and again for us and the kids/grandkids. We already got permission to dig it out more and at least double it's size. I've got more dreams than money when it comes to planning/digging this out. One side of the horse shoe is quite shallow and narrow. This would be my starting point for the future pond.

But first, can anyone tell me what this stuff is? It covers a lot of surface area of the pond and makes it very difficult to fish. Heavily matted, it hold the lures on top of it. When reeling though it, you bring back huge clumps of it all over your lure/line.




As you can see, it covers a great deal of surface area. Is this a good aquatic plant to have or is it hurting the pond more than helping?


Watching the wind blowing across the surface, only one small spot on the pond was rippling. Just don't know if it's getting enough aeration with all that pond weed lookin' stuff.

I'd also like to learn how to take care of the pond. Although I've found a ton of great info in here, I'd really like some hands on experience. So what info do I need to get so I can get started? Over the last couple of month's, the wife and I have been adding minnows to it. Maybe 15-20 dozen in all. Just trying to keep some bait fish in there. Hope that wasn't a bad idea. Here's some of the fish we've caught out of there.

The one I caught yesterday and drug through the muck...

From a couple months ago. I'm guessing pre-spawn, or just fat?

The green slimy stuff is filamentous algae. AKA FA. The other plant is primrose (it will get a yellow flower in the summer).

The FA can be treated with copper sulphate. I use a chelated version called Cutrine. I would suggest that you apply only 1/3 of the pond at a time; when it is this prolific. Once you get a handle on it, you can spot treat the whole pond at a time. A simple backpack sprayer or small 5 to 15 gallon ATV sprayer is suffecient and will cost less than $100. A 1/3 of an acre pond covered in FA should cost less than $30 in copper sulphate to treat. You may need to treat it 2 or 3 times throughout the year.

I would suggest you spend some time and ask questions on a web-site called Pond Boss. www.pondboss.com Lots of folks on that site who are passionate about managing ponds and private lakes.

Adding dozens of minnows is nothing more than an expensive snack for an established pond. Don't waste your money. On a 1/3 of an acre, I would harvest 10 to 20 fish 14 inches and smaller and add forage. Might try 100 to 150 adult (4 to 6 inch) coppernose bluegill and 10 lbs of tilapia. All of that will cost you about $250.

Lastly, create a few brush piles for bluegill fry to hide.

where is this is it private

Thanks Salex for all the info. I do appreciate it. I should have added, there is a heavy frog and duck population out there as well.

Now then, this copper sulfate, most importantly, will it harm the horses? They like to romp around in the pond every now and then and they also drink from it. I know, probably a dumb question. But the MIL has a weird knack for anything that lives...good, bad or ugly. Are there other more natural things that would aid in the situation?

Gonna head on over to PondBoss and see what's shaking over there.So looking forward to many years of this new project!

Yes Ryan...it's a private farm on the east side of Ft. Worth.

The horses should be fine. I don't think I would have them water from the pond for a day or so, if possible. After you get it under control, you can remove it mechanically with a rake as it comes up or you can add a few grass carp and or tilapia. Tilapia are for the FA issue, grass carp could be beneficial for the other aquatic vegetation. Grass carp require permitting and certain hoops. Without seeing the pond it is hard to recommend how many. But my rule of thumb is 10 GC per weeded acre. In your case you may only need 1 to 3 grass carp.

If it were me, I would probably treat it chemically, and add 10 lbs of tilapia for this year. re-evaulate next year and spot treat it much earlier in the year and add 10 lbs of tilapia. Like anything if you get on it early and stay consistent it is really not hard to manage; especially on only a 1/3 of an acre.

A true gold mine. Good job.

Those fish look good, healthy and not under weight - evidence that the pond must have pretty good forage in its present state. I've used liquid Cutrine and it's fairly effective on FA, but it's not a permanent solution. The FA will eventually come back unless the reason for it being there is addressed. As was mentioned before, the algae must be treated in stages. Killing it all in a single treatment can created serious dissolved oxygen problems.

Steve is spot on with his recommendations.

A couple of thoughts and factoids. Every pond is different so my thoughts are generalities.

The fish will become hook shy and hard to catch. They wise up pretty quickly. Some of us only fish our ponds twice a year.

A balanced pond can GENERALLY hold only about 50 to 100 pounds of predators per acre. What's a predator? This gets tricky. Eliminate every bass 13 inches and under. Catch and release is about the worst thing that can be done to a Texas pond.

A bass needs forage that is 1/4 to 1/3 of it's body size. It's a matter of energy expended vs calories obtained.

Expanding the pond can get expensive. It will also change the dynamics.

Feed the bluegills with a good quality feed that is formulated for fish and don't worry about the bass. If the forage base is in good shape, the bass will do just fine. Don't ever eat a big bluegill. They are your brood stock.

Bill and Steve mention only spraying 1/3 of the pond at a time due to dissolved oxygen issues. Dying/rotting plants suck up oxygen. The fish need somewhere else to go.

One of the biggest favors you can do for the pond is eliminate the ducks. Their poop can do a lot of damage to the water quality by adding too many nutrients. They might be the real source for the excess weeds.

Don't let anybody talk you into fertilizing the water unless there is a damn good reason.

TOP WATER FROG or WEIGHTLESS WORM!! Oh my gosh!