So, You have a Pond? Choose to Manage It

By Bob Lusk

From a window seat in the air, look down and see hundreds, maybe thousands of diamond-like sparkles dotting the landscape below. Ponds.

Charming ecosystems teeming with life. Some are muddy, algae-covered puddles, while others are pristine-looking trophy fishing lakes.

Texas has more than 1.2 million private bodies of water around the Lone Star State

What’s the difference between them? Some are managed, most are not.

As landowners, we have choices. We are stewards of our land and water. Decisions we make today influence those parcels and puddles for years to come.

You manage your checkbook. You manage your calendar. You manage your lives. You can manage your ponds, too.

Is your favorite pond the best place to swim? Does it produce bragging-size fish? Late on a summer day, do you love to sidle up, sit in your chosen chair with a favorite beverage and just enjoy the pondside sunset?

Or…is yours just another pond with too much of the wrong kinds of plants, fish that won’t grow and a faint odor like a wet dog?

Let me assure you…your pond can be much, much better.

Managing your pond is an easy decision, too.

Look at the value of well-managed ponds. Water is a natural resource we borrow. We don’t own it, we don’t keep it. We use it. When temporarily stored in a pond, water is ours to use and enjoy. Souls are soothed around water.

Wildlife drinks it. The gurgling-stream sounds as it moves, the clarity, the mystery of plants and animals which live beneath give us a peace and serenity we are hard-pressed to find in our workaday worlds.

Good water adds value to land as well. In my office, people ring our phones regularly, asking if we know of land for sale…with water on it.

Well managed ponds often teem with healthy fish. Have you ever paid a fishing guide on a public lake or stream and watch him work hard for you to catch a limit? Your pond could provide as nice an experience…with better results and the inner satisfaction that it’s yours.

Better yet, how about those delectable grilled fish entrées at fine restaurants? Guess where those fish were before they hit the platter? Well managed ponds add value to land, surrounding wildlife, your menu…and, most of all, your soul. 

It just makes good sense to manage ponds and lakes. They deserve it. Better yet, you deserve it. You change the oil in your car, you vacuum the carpets at home and you manicure the lawn. Manage your pond, too. There are a few fundamental things every pond owner can do. It doesn’t have to cost a year’s wages.

First, learn as much as you can. Knowledge makes decisions much easier. Pond management starts with clean water. There are ways to keep it clean by what grows and accumulates in it. Or, you can literally move the water to keep it clean. That’s a process called ‘aeration.’

Next, think about the habitat under water and around pond’s edges. Every pond is a living, breathing entity of its own. As goes its habitat, so goes what thrives within. You can influence habitat. Each and every pond develops its own food chain. Most ponds grow plants which feed insects which feed larger insects which feed small fish and so on…up the food web. You can improve the food chain.

Some aquatic plants are pleasant, some are not. Some are invasive, some live in harmony in the community below the surface.

Nature does what Nature does, until you come onto the scene to give it a humanly nudge. That’s where your goals and wishes come into play. A pond is like a fresh palette, awaiting the brush strokes of the artist. You are the artist.

Want a healthy ecosystem with native plants and clean water which attracts surrounding waterfowl…and maybe a few deer? How about a swimming hole like you dunked your little brother when you were kids? How about the best fishing hole in the county? You can do it.

Maybe you should feed your fish. Maybe you should harvest a few. Where to start?

Start with your goals, stir in some knowledge and then go to work. Need help? There are lake management experts scattered over the nation. That’s why they are there… not only to teach, but to help nudge your waters to a healthier being. They’ll raise the hood on your pond, check its oil, manicure its lawn or check the health of the fish that call it home.

Value? Absolutely. Managing your ponds adds to the value of life, extends a hand to Nature and brings value to the land…as you enjoy the fruits of these labors via the harmony you help create.

Bob Lusk is known nationwide as the “Pond Boss.” He has 34 years of professional pond and lake management under his belt, traveling the nation helping people design, build, stock and manage premier private recreational fishing lakes. He is also editor of the nation’s leading pond management magazine, “Pond Boss.” Reach Bob and subscribe to Pond Boss at www.pondboss.com. He’ll help.