“No Grass-No Bass” was the slogan used during the early 1980’s as Lake Conroe was stocked with white amur or “grass carp”. But how does vegetation control impact fish populations in private waters-or does it?

Summertime is the season for aquatic weed growth in many of our private East Texas impoundments, especially if a significant percentage of the surface area is made up of water less than 3 feet deep.

Our survey data of Texas pond/lake owners indicates that the number one problem they wrestle with is aquatic vegetation control. But when does an aquatic plant become a weed? The answer is when that plant interferes with your use of that body of water, be it for livestock watering, irrigation or recreation (e.g., swimming, boating, fishing).

That subjective call means that one pondowner can tolerate far different coverage of aquatic vegetation than his/her neighbor. Furthermore, just because aquatic growth appears in a pond or lake does not mean it’s necessarily time to control it.

In smaller ponds where catfish are stocked and fed a supplemental ration, aquatic vegetation plays a minimal role and therefore can be controlled at will.

In larger ponds (one surface acre or larger), aquatic vegetation can provide needed habitat in the form of cover but also harbor food items for a largemouth bass population. As long as the coverage does not exceed somewhere between quarter to one-third of the pond’s surface area, it is probably beneficial.

The problem is that aquatic weeds don’t always know when to stop growing and severe infestations, even on larger private lakes, may cover 75 percent or more of the body of water’s surface area.

As the percentage of the surface area coverage increases, excessive escape cover for the forage species present (e.g., bluegill) may limit the largemouth’s ability to access their prey and may lead to declining condition of the bass population itself.

Enter Aquaplant, Texas A&M’s aquatic weed identification and control website which can be found at http://aquplant.tamu.edu. This site can help a pondowner with weed identification-a critical step in order to administer the right type of control.

Once the weed is identified, the pondowner can select “Management Options” to determine what chemical, biological and/or mechanical control options are available for that particular species. Insome cases, the pondowner may want to use an integrated control approach by knocking weeds back with a labeled herbicide application, then follow up with a stocking of triploid grass carp for long-term control if that species of weed is indeed susceptible to control by grass carp.

Additional information found on the Aquaplant website includes the TPWD application for a Grass Carp Permit-required of any pondowner interested in using this control method. Other info includes TCEQ regulations that might apply to pondowners based on the acres treated with herbicides and the herbicides selected for use. Under Chemical Control, the label of each herbicide recommended can also be accessed by clicking on the highlighted name of the herbicide.

Since hot weather is just around the corner, proceed with caution while making chemical applications to the weeds. Treating too large an area at one time may lead to an oxygen depletion as the vegetation decomposes and can result in a fish kill-particularly if treatments are made in the dog days of late summer. If you must treat in hot weather and fish are important, break the infested area up by treating no more than 10 to 15 percent of the surface area per treatment, waiting one week between applications.

If you prefer to hire out an aquatic weed applicator to do the job, a partial list of licensed applicators is included with this article.

So, if your pond has aquatic vegetation that is limiting your use of the pond or biologically impacting your fish population, surf over to the Aquaplant website to get started on identification and control options.

Aquatic Weed Treatment Consultants in Texas

Aquatic Features, Inc., Scott Smith

6611 Burnet Lane, Austin, TX 78737

512/563-8260

Esmith19@sbcglobal.net

Aquatic Management Svcs, Stan Smith

P.O. Box 130536

Tyler, TX 75713-0536

903/581-3830

Cell 903/571-6266

aquaman@gower.net

AquaTech, Blake Kellum

Aquatic Management and Consulting Company

P.O. Box #7

Oakhurst, TX 77359

936/661-2180

blakeslakes@gmail.com

Coastal Spray

Mark S. Wildman

P.O. Box 3227, Pasadena, TX 77501

877/824-4577, Cell 832/374-1633

mwildman@coastalspray.com

www.coastalspray.com

Danbury Fish Farms

Kenneth Zwahr

Danbury, TX. 77534

979/922-8414

www.danburyfishfarms.com

kenny@danburyfishfarms.com

Herrmann Fish Farm, Jon Herrmann

4977 CR83

Robstown, TX 78380

361/387-7819

herrmannsfish@herrmannsfishfarm.com

jonherrmann@herrmannsfishfarm.com

kathyherrman@herrmannsfishfarm.com

RP Hodges, Lakes, Ponds

P.O. Box 310359

New Braunsfels, TX 78131

830/609-4466

Johnson Lake Management Service

Malcolm Johnson, III

465 River Bend Lane

Martindale, TX 78655

512/396-1231, Fax 512/396-5797

Home 512/357-4270, Cell 512/757-0384

mlakefish@centurylink.net

Don W. Steinbach

Farm Pond Management

979/289-3909

d-steinbach@tamu.edu

Lochow Ranch

John Jones, Operations Manager

4700 CR 342

Milano, TX 76556

866/422-9022, Cell 512/484-2068

jones@lochowranch.com,

www.lochowranch.com/services

Lake Management Svcs., Mac McCune

1650 Hwy 6 South, Ste. 430

Sugarland, TX. 77478

281/240-6444, Cell 713/824-9356

mac@lmslp.com

www.lmslp.com

Lone Star Lake Management

Alan Rudd

Somerville, TX. 77879

979/535-4210

aerudd@yahoo.com

Magnolia Fisheries

Bill Wingo

Coppell, TX 75019

972/724-0071, 972/471-2824

magfish@waymark.net

Overton Fisheries, Todd Overton

19369 IH45

Buffalo, TX 75831

903/322-2626

todd@overtoncentral.com

PondMedics, Inc., Trent Lewis

1251 N. Legacy Dr.

Prosper, TX 75078

972/334-0104

trent@pondmedics.com

Southern Pond Management

Danny Evanicky, Aquatic Specialist

281/238-4650

Sprayco/Houston Spraying & Supply

George B. Plyant, III

1327 Judiway, Houston, TX 77018

713/686-0598, Cell 713/725-3200

georgepylant@yahoo.com

Tank Hollow Fisheries, Vance Schultze

200 West Tank Hollow Rd.

Poteet, TX 78065

830/742-4148, FAX 830/742-3302

vance@tankhollowfisheries.com

http://tankhollowfisheries.com

Texoma Hatchery

Bob Lusk

Whitesboro, TX. 76273

903/564-5372

pondboss@texoma.net

Total Lake Management

Paul Dorsett

9250 FM 2549

Bryan, TX 77808

979/279-2946, 979/219-4808

totallakeman@wildblue.net

totallakeman@wildblue.com

Vollmar Pond & lake Management

Brad Vollmar

Fredericksburg, TX

830/992-0928

brad@texaspondmanagement.com

www.texaspondmanagement.com