COLLEGE STATION — As the last wintery storms of the season unfold over the next few weeks, the time is right to consider improving ponds for better water and fish supplies, a wildlife specialist for the Texas Agricultural Extension Service said.
“Especially if you had problems with a pond last year, now is the time to plan what to do when warm weather comes in the next few week,” said Dr. Jim Davis, Extension fish specialist.
Davis said the same problems, plus more, will return this year unless action is taken to better manage a pond.
Problems with aquatic weeds or sparse fish populations can be treated if a plan is developed, he said.
“There are four types of aquatic weeds — algae, floating plants, submersed plants and emersed plants,” Davis said. Algae are primitive plants that may make water appear soupy green or brown, floating plants are not attached to the bottom, submersed plants are rooted at the bottom but may grown to the surface and emersed plants extend above the surface in shallow water.
But Davis cautioned that complete elimination of aquatic weeds is not desirable, because these plants may provide growing areas for fish food and cover for young fish. They also may provide shoreline protection, serve as food for other animals or provide nesting areas.
Weedy areas in ponds also can be good fishing areas, because small fish hide in them and attract larger fish, Davis said.
“If plants are interfering with the desired use of the pond or they become a nuisance, then control must be considered,” Davis said.
To combat aquatic weeds, Davis said, a pond owner may want to get a permit to stock triploid grass carp, treat with a herbicide, pull the weeds by hand or fertilize the pond. Mechanical methods, such as deepening pond edges, might be necessary. The choice depends on the overall situation of the pond.
Davis suggested pond owners who want to increase the fish populations should plan to keep a complete, weekly record on the kind and size of each fish caught.
“If the bass caught are mostly under 10 inches, the population is probably stunted,” he said. “This may mean removing some of the small bass to leave more food for the other bass.”
If too few channel catfish are caught, he added, this might mean that the pond needs to be stocked with more catfish as they usually do not reproduce in small ponds with other fish.
Draining the pond completely or treating it with chemicals to kill all the fish are choices to consider if mostly undesirable species of fish are caught, he said.
Davis noted that the winter is a good time to plan better care of ponds by studying the Extension Service’s Pond Management Handbook.
“This handbook contains information about everything from how to build a pond to clearing muddy water to how to manage the vegetation that interferes with fishing,” Davis said.
Obtain the handbook through local county agents, or write Texas Agricultural Extension Service, 102 Nagle Hall, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843-2258.
A video containing a 25-minute discussion of some of the same topics in the handbook is available through county Extension agents also, Davis said.
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