May 16 2008
Dodging Duckweed
This past week I spent time scouting out, and fishing, a local pond here in northeastern Connecticut. It was my first time fishing this specific body of water, so I met up with the owner of the property to discuss the ins and outs of fishing there. After a few minutes of conversation, he began to tell me about the drop in fish population due to a spike in the growth of Duckweed on the surface of the pond. He told me that a year ago the pond faced a large fish-kill resulting from a thick layer of Duckweed that was draining oxygen from the water.
Although Duckweed, in large numbers, can be hazardous to fish populations, pond-owners should not be too hasty to skim their ponds. Duckweed, as I found out after speaking with a DEP officer, Duckweed can be very beneficial to the ponds ecosystem. In small amounts, Duckweed, on a sunny day, produces vast amounts of oxygen which is then released directly into the water, making the pond a more advantageous place for fish growth. Unfortunately, on cloudy days, Duckweed, in order to stay alive, draws oxygen from the water, causing the levels of oxygen to drop dramatically, and ultimately threatening the livelihood of the fishes.
The reason for the fish-kill at the pond where I was fishing was that during that summer, the pond was covered by a very thick layer of Duckweed, and the weather remained cloudy off and on for a long period of time. This constant fluctuation in oxygen levels eventually killed of a couple hundred warm-water fish.
I asked the pond-owner whether it would be beneficial to simply skim the water to remove the duckweed, and not risk gambling with the lives of trophy fish. He stated that he was told by a local DEP officer that if he were to remove the weed from the water, the population of the fish would continue to grow uncontrollably, and eventually the larger fish would die off anyways. He told us that the Duckweed was a very helpful, natural, population regulator, keeping the ponds ecosystem at check.
So for all of you out there that are worried about the health of your ponds due to Duckweed, it is better to let nature take its course, then to interfere and face the consequences.
Although I enjoy the reliability and strength of my modern graphite, Pfueger rod, there tends to be a great joy in casting my grandfather’s handcrafted split bamboo rod. The rod is a ten and a half foot bamboo rod that he acquired long before I was born. My grandfather passed away before I was old enough to really remember him. Although this is true, there is a certain connection that can be made, and a certain joy that can be found in knowing that I am casting the same rod that he too caught numerous fish on. Through this, it makes it possible to, although living in different times, share something with my grandfather.