IMPROVING SPORT FISHING BY CONTROL OF AQUATIC WEEDS 



By 

 Eugene W. Surber 

 Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife 

 Atlanta, Georgia \i 



INTRODUCTION 



The purpose of this leaflet is to aid fish-culturists , biologists, 

 pond owners, and lake-front property owners who have weed problems. 

 The methods of weed eradication and control described herein apply 

 to farm ponds, hatchery ponds, and small lakes. 



Methods are described for the control of (1) pond scums and 

 other algae; (2) emergent plants, such as cattails, softstem bul- 

 rush, burreed, manna grass, water hyacinths, etc., which usually 

 start at the margin of a pond and build up marshes about its border; 

 and (3) the submersed plants such as American waterweed ( Elodea ) 

 and the many species of pondweeds (Potomogetons) , etc., which are 

 rooted in the pond bottom and grow to the water surface. 



Large amounts of submersed or emergent vegetation in ponds 

 inevitably lead to over-population and stunted fish. There is 

 abundant evidence that ponds with coarse weeds growing over most 

 of the bottom produce smaller total weights of fish. The goal of 

 the pond operator interested in producing food or game fish, is 

 to raise fish to large or edible size within the shortest possible 

 time. Weed control is essential to the maintenance of a proper 

 predator fish--forage fish balance in farm ponds; to production 

 of fish in hatchery ponds; and occasionally to the maintenance of 

 recreational values along lake front properties. The preferred 

 method of weed control in ponds is by fertilization of the water. 



DETERMINATION OF AREA AND VOLUME OF WATER 



Reasonably accurate determination of the surface area and 

 average depth of a pond or lake to be treated is necessary for 

 good results in controlling aquatic weeds. In many instances, 

 the surface area has already been determined from engineering data 

 collected during construction. It is recommended that actual 

 measurements of length, average width and average depth to determine 

 water volume precede chemical treatment. 



!_/ Prepared while the author was a staff member of the Branch of 

 Federal Aid. He is now employed by the U. S. Public Health 

 Service, Division of Water Supply and Pollution Control, 

 Cincinnati, Ohio. 



