Already!?

[Phil Yearout]

My first outing of the season yesterday, and I found one of my favorite panfish haunts already taken over by whatever this is - I'm no botanist; I just called it moss. This happened last summer during a hot dry spell but I was surprised to see it had developed so early; was still freezing a couple weeks ago. Anyway I decided I didn't want to spend the day pulling gobs of the stuff off my fly so I moved on...

https://i.imgur.com/MaZS5VCl.jpg

[Dean Romig]

Yuck… did you get a close up pic of the stuff?





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[Phil Yearout]

Didn't think to do that. It's close by though; I'll get one.

[Garry L Gordon]

Looks like whoever owns that pond has work to do.

[Dean Romig]

The invasives have destroyed some of the waters here in the northeast. Hydrilla, eurasian milfoil and water chestnut.





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[David Livesay]

Had the same experience last week. Every time I reeled in my beetle spin it was covered in the green algae or whatever it is.

[Mike Koneski]

Might be duckweed?

It's actually edible and considered a "superfood". Just have to be sure it's from a clean water source.

[Stan Hillis]

If it's algae, or one of a few other invasive species, it can be controlled chemically with a herbicide treatment once a year. I treat my ponds every spring for filamentous algae. That's what it looks like but I can't be certain without closeup pics.

I have three ponds that are used for fishing and for irrigation. This stuff gets progressively worse during the summer, when untreated, and clogs the strainers on my irrigation pump's suction pipes. It's a b**ch.

[Phil Yearout]

Yuck… did you get a close up pic of the stuff?

This is what it looks like in the water...

https://i.imgur.com/kAFNjF4l.jpg

and this is what it looks like fished out with a stick...

https://i.imgur.com/35hBMA3l.jpg

and whatever it is, it sure ruins the fishing!

[Donald F. Mills]

As Stan thought, it’s filamentous algae. Also called hair algae.

[Phil Yearout]

There are some really nice houses with a view of that lake. Wonder how they like seeing that from the back deck?

[Dean Romig]

A friend had that in his pond and he put a harmless blue dye in the water to reduce the sunlight and it killed the algae.





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[Stan Hillis]

Definitely filamentous algae. Dye will work. It is clear water that allows the sunlight to penetrate deeply that initiates the algae. Dark water prevents it. I cannot prevent the water from being clear because I have 6" wells with 20-25 hp submersible pumps putting water into the ponds all the time I am pulling out of them irrigating crops. So, the dye won't work for me.

Fertilizing a pond with pond fertilizer will create a "bloom" that will turn the water very dark and prevent it, also. But, once you've got it herbicides are usually necessary to beat it back. Then, the preventive measures like dye or pond fertilizer can be used.