Getting rid of cattails

[rekees4300]

I'll need a permit from the state of Louisiana and I'll have to stock big ones. Standard 10" size stock grass carps will be eaten by the red fish currently in the pond.

No permit for triploid (sterile) Grass Carp (aka White Amur) needed in Indiana but only sold through licensed Indiana dealers.

http://www.in.gov/dnr/files/GRASS_CARP.pdf

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

The pond I was talking about was about 3/4 an acre and only 5ft deep at its deepest point, he used dyes to keep the growth down, had bluegill, largemouth bass, catfish and grass carp in the pond, he has a fountain in the middle, and once or twice a week he would rake the weeds and drag them on the bank which he later would load up and dump somewhere, idk where.

He stocked the pond and fed the fish, via hundreds of pounds of fish food he kept in a trash can on his deck that hung over part of the pond (8ft off the water).

So I guess it was a mixture of a lot of things that kept his pond in check on weeds and cattails

 

[oosik]

BFJohn - that's the kind of pond a guy can take pride in maintaining. Mine has alway been at the whims of Mother Nature. She has always been good to my little lake but......I sure would like a pair of alligators, as a surprise to those uninvited guests. Ha,ha :dance1:

 

[Quebecguy]

Any suggestion from experience guys and gals?

^

You don`t mention the size of your pond. If it isn`t very big just pull the cattails out by hand - it is surprisingly easy to do. I don`t like leaches attaching themselves to my body so I wear long rubber gloves and hip waders when doing that job.

 

[Soggy Bottom Outdoors]

Check herbicide Cattplex and Rodeo. They are glysophate based, similar to Roundup.

 

[boggen]

Koiphen.com = look at the mud ponds / dirt ponds. good amount of dealers / folks directly into ponds/lakes there. though a lot of liner ponds for koi / goldfish. but also breaders and builders.

cattails, you need to deal with the "bulb" not the stinking stem above the soil.

water currents can help a lot!!!!! and can be magical key, regardless of aeration with air, or using a water pump. water currents is were it is at. in getting a healthier pond and/or lake.

Pond Boss Forum | Forums powered by UBB.threads?/a> is another forum dealing with mud ponds/lakes.

water depth can be a major player with water weeds. at around 4 to 5 foot depth sun does not penetrate deep enough to support plant growth.

grass carp / white almur is good for regular water vegetation. they do not do much for cattails. most states require a permit for sticking any type of carp/koi in a lake. due to they can mass produce and kill out other native species. and they will get out of your pond either via overflow, or by bird, or some other doing. *been there done that*

would love to be able to rent a long arm'ed excavator. to reach over out into the lake and bring in buckets full of cattails. and the soil were the bulbs are.

be careful of any chemicals used, event salt. also be careful of just cutting up and leaving the dead rotting mess of cattails laying in the water, also be careful of just digging up all the cattails. why? DO (dissolved oxygen) level within the water can go down quickly and cause massive fish death. if you can wait around for an ugly hot year of a drought. might be key time to get in there and do something.

having say a raft made out of 4 to 8 .... 55 gallon plastic drums, some 2x4's, 2x6's, 2x8's and some decking board. and a 12v trolling motor can make for a nice platform to work from. trimming trees, fishing, partying, swimming, dealing with what ever. including stacking cattails up on it.

if lake is primary just fishing, and going out swimming. sink some posts 3 to 4 feet into the soil. and run a ramp from up on the bank out, make a T shape on the end. and put 3 to 4 ...55 gallon drums out on the T section. this allows the ramp to go up and down with water levels. and makes for nice spot to tie off boats. and gets you deeper out there for jumping / diving out into the water.

the raft and ramp may seem unnecessary, but like anything going to local hardware store to get the right tool for the job. the raft and ramp are extremely nice for getting closer to right tool for the job. dealing with little fishing boats to little hunting boats. *meh* will take raft any day.

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if you are talking about removing moss is what i call it, bunch of string mess. i have found drag harrow that you can adjust angle of the teeth on it via a handle. to work nicely. but you need to add some frame work to it. J shape skies on the front. to help keep the drag from just sinking directly into the mud. and allowing the rear end to sink down into the mud. add V shape frame work (tongue on a trailer like doing) so you have a better supported frame work to attach cable to. you need to pull extremely slow. or you end up catching majorty of your little minows / baby fish in the moss. and you do need to drag all the moss out on shore or you have a good chance of massive fish death as the moss decays. having a backhoe or mini ex, or excavator. helps a lot when pulling the few hundred ponds of water / moss up onto shore. (( it will stink badly to fair warning))

adding a couple J shape teeth on each side. not pointed down but out of each side, can keep larger chunks from getting away from you as you pull it down a bank.

the entire mess, begin looking like a weird multi trouble hook with all the J hooks made out of 3/4" to 1" pipe, to drag harrow teeth on the bottom.

above is short term. getting proper currents for either using aeration / air pump, or using a water pump. will be long term goal of getting a healthier lake/pond with less water weeds.

 

[bcp]

I've often wondered if, in some regions, a windmill arrangement could be made to aerate and circulate the water, instead of an electric pump.

Bruce

 

[GGB]

I'll second the suggestion on aeration. On our small pond, I was dealing with a lot of moss, even after spraying and adding grass carp. I found a used aeration windmill for a good price on our local Craigslist, and decided to see how it would work. In the 6 years since setting up the windmill, I haven't had to use any chemicals, save for one gallon of blue dye to keep my Bride happy-the pond didn't need it, but it convinced her that we didn't need anything. The windmill also keeps the pond open in the winter to prevent fish kill from freezing over for long periods.

I'm getting ready to set up an electric aerator on our big pond which is over 4 acres.

GGB

 

[rekees4300]

grass carp / white almur is good for regular water vegetation. they do not do much for cattails. most states require a permit for sticking any type of carp/koi in a lake. due to they can mass produce and kill out other native species. and they will get out of your pond either via overflow, or by bird, or some other doing. *been there done that*

would love to be able to rent a long arm'ed excavator. to reach over out into the lake and bring in buckets full of cattails. and the soil were the bulbs are.

Been there done that X 2. It's a myth that Grass Carp don't eat cattails. After the other vegetation was eaten in my pond they ate ALL of the cattails. Regarding an excavator it's a big mess with tons of muck to dispose of.

 

[4570Man]

I've found cutting them down works fairly well. Some grow back but not as many as before.