Weird pond conditions

[BODCAW JACK]

Yesterday I took my wife fishing in an old pond I grew up on.  It's pretty good size with lots of buck brush and cover around the banks as well as about 2 acres of lilly pads in the shallow back portion.  I've fished this pond countless times and always had alot of luck with anything from frogs to flukes to brush hogs.  I got word that it was declining due to an overpopulation of beavers and otters tearing the levee apart.  The local game warden actually stopped by my dads place and asked if he could trap 'em while off duty just for the pelts.  Must be bad if you can tell from the road!!!  Anyway, my dad went by about a month ago and said it was crystal clear with no fish.  I confirmed it yesterday.  What I saw blew my mind.  About half the pond is covered in grass and lilly pads (looks like a football field) and the other half has pods of grass growing.  I'm not sure the scientific name but its the stuff that grows underwater but sprouts above water.  Anytime we hit an area of open water I could see all the way to the bottom, which was covered in coon tail moss.  I'm no biologist but I guess all that vegetation has filtered all the dirt/mud from the water.  It was actually pretty amazing to look at-staring 10-15 feet down at what looks like coral reef in a pond!  The only plus to it was that we could see literally hundreds of bream and baitfish.  Yet, no bass.  I know you can buy stuff to kill off the vegetation in a pond but has anybody ever seen this before?

[Kevin]

Yep, classic case of beavers. I don't know if it was the exact same type of vegetation, but I have seen this in a local pond I used to fish when I was younger. A good stocking of grass-eating carp can help a lot. There are also chemicals you can buy to rid the pond of the vegetation.

[ArkansasSloughboy]

I'd be very surprised that the beavers caused the bass to disappear. Those water conditions sound like excellent habitat for an ambush predator fish. Sounds more to me like someone has been slipping in and keeping too many fish. There are several chemicals you can use to get rid of some of the vegitation. They make a pellet form that you can just throw in the water and it will kill right where you throw it. There's also a thing called a water razor you can cut the stuff out with. If the plants are lotus you may have to drain the water to kill it. Personally, I'd start out with a few grass carp and restock with bass. That habitat should really help the bass grow quickly. If there are otters using the pond, trap them out this winter. They are worth $40+ and you don't even have to skin them.

[BODCAW JACK]

Thanks for the advice. Will do.

[Darth Bro0ks]

Hello!
New to the site, but I read your post and thought I would weigh in for a min. I teach biology at a local school, and what it sounds like to me is an overgrow of vegetation. This can be caused by beavers, if they build a levee it slows the current and allows emergent and submerged plants to take root. Once vegetation takes up 20% or more of the surface level of the water it allows bream or bluegill excessive places to hide and predator fish can't successfully hunt. The number one sign of this happening is overpopulation of bait fish and small or thin population of bass. I would look into herbicide.