Take control of your pond weeds! Every year about this time, ponds all over the midwest are overtaken by green stuff—Water Meal, Chara, Duck Weed, Filamentous Algae, Coontail, or even Cattails. Some pond vegetation is good. But, when plant material starts covering most of your pond’s surface, bad things can happen. Too many pond weeds affect how your pond looks, how it functions as a fish habitat, and how healthy it is for recreation.

Before-After-3Bjornsen Pond Management can help keep your pond in good health! We have the products and expertise to help take control of your pond weeds. Check out our pond vegetation control products. PondFit Beneficial Pond Bacteria, aeration systems, and mechanical tools will help better your water quality. And, of course, you can always ask us specific questions online or call (319) 350-2918! We are always eager to help!

Why Do We Electrofish?

It looks like spring is upon us, and most of us are eager to jump right to the fun part—stocking fish. Bjornsen Pond Management loves stocking fish as much as the next guy, but honestly, there are better ways to go about building a fishery than just adding a bunch of fish. The better way is to start with electrofishing. What is electrofishing, you ask? Here is an overview.

This is what we hear from many pond and lake owners:

“I already know what’s in my pond. I just stocked it five years ago.”

So you stocked your pond five years ago. What was your pond’s fish population before you stocked? Did you have a balanced fishery—meaning a proper balance of predator fish and feeder fish, of the proper size? Without an electrofishing session followed by a pond audit, you might have taken a shot in the dark then—and you may be ready to do so again. In this scenario, adding more of the wrong fish will likely take your fishery down the wrong path.

“I keep my eyes on my pond at all times. I’ve never had a major fish kill”

So, you have never had a major fish kill. How do you know that? Contrary to popular belief, fish kills are not always the result of a hard winter—there are summer time fish kills as well, and they can be triggered by algae blooms, heavy rains, and many other factors. And, contrary to popular belief, dead fish do not always float up to the pond’s surface. We have seen very large fish kills with barely a trace visible on the surface. Many dead fish will just sink to the bottom of your pond.

“We don’t have an issue with predators. I’ve never seen any evidence at all.”

The third statement may not be as clear cut as it seems. Many things happen around your pond during hours of darkness. Many predators are night feeders—and they can be crafty killers, dragging their catch far away from shore. By the next morning, there is hardly a clue that they were there. We have seen fish populations seriously decreased by predators that were not believed to be an issue. Keep in mind that your pond is one element of a diverse habitat. Your pond will attract all wildlife. Learn to allow for this diversity.

“I have too many pond weeds. I need a bunch of grass carp.”

And finally, grass carp. This is a common—yet rarely accurate—perceived “solution” to your vegetation problems. The fist step is identifying what weeds are growing in your pond, and in what months they take over. Pond Vegetation Control has always been challenging. Learning about what exactly you are dealing with before jumping to a conclusion is the best plan of attack.

We are now scheduling pond audits with electrofishing for spring 2020

Over the next few months we we will be conducting pond audits with electrofishing in ponds all over Iowa. Our customers (Home Owners Associations, campgrounds, and private pond owners) will be able to see firsthand what fish species and sizes they have in their ponds allowing us to provide stocking and harvest plans that will help them reach their goals. Concerns over invasive vegetation will also addressed with a bit of education and mitigation plans for the control of unwanted plant species.

A pond audit with electrofishing is the best way to learn about the fish population and overall health of your pond. Contact us via our Online form or Or call (319) 350-2918.

After you receive your pond audit, we will work with you to develop a stocking plan that works with your pond’s current fish population. In time, your pond will become the healthy and diverse fishery that you want.


Deleted:

Deleted: Excited for the future of their pond Full net Final day of electrofishing

The Bjornsen Pond Management team will be attending the 2020 Cedar Rapids Sportshow, Friday, January 31st through Sunday, February 2nd, 2020 at the DoubleTree By Hilton Cedar Rapids Convention Complex in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Show Location:

DoubleTree By Hilton Cedar Rapids Convention Complex
350 First Avenue NE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401

Show Hours:

  • Friday: January 31st, 3:00 PM – 8:00 PM
  • Saturday: February 1st 10:00 AM – 8:00 PM
  • Sunday: February 2nd 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM

Let’s get together to talk ponds, lakes, and fish. Spring is on its way!

We are putting our electrofishing schedule together for Spring 2020. Contact us via our Online form or Or call (319) 350-2918 to reserve your spot on our schedule! Or, better yet, give us a call and come visit with us at the 2020 Cedar Rapids Sportshow.

If you can’t make the Cedar Rapids show, we will be at other shows in central and eastern Iowa:

We look forward to meeting with you at the 2020 Cedar Rapids Sportshow and getting to know you and your pond needs!

Fall 2019 Pond Audit and Electrofishing Tour

Over the past couple of weeks we had a break in our other activities allowing us to conduct pond audits with electrofishing across eastern Iowa. After each outing our customers were able to see firsthand what fish species and sizes they have in their ponds. Over time we have found that a pond owner’s “best hunch” of what is in their pond rarely matches reality and each outing revealed interesting data. We addressed size and populations of each fish species and concerns about invasive vegetation, leaving each owner with a stocking and harvest plan and education on controlling unwanted plant species.

We met a lot of new people, saw some great ponds, and had a lot of fun. A pond audit with electrofishing is the best way to learn about the fish population and overall health of your pond. Contact us via our Online form or Or call (319) 350-2918.



Spring 2019 Pond Audit and Electrofishing Tour

Over the past couple of months we conducted pond audits with electrofishing in ponds all over Iowa. Our customers (Home Owners Associations, campgrounds, and private pond owners) were able to see firsthand what fish species and sizes they have in their ponds allowing us to provide stocking and harvest plans that will help them reach their goals. Concerns over invasive vegetation were also addressed with a bit of education and mitigation plans for the control of unwanted plant species.

We met a lot of new people, saw some great ponds, and had a lot of fun. A pond audit with electrofishing is the best way to learn about the fish population and overall health of your pond. Contact us via our Online form or Or call (319) 350-2918.

It’s Time to Feed Your Fish

A lot of things about pond management can be very complicated—pond vegetation control, and keeping your fish population in a healthy balance to name a couple. But growing trophy sized fish can come down to a simple fact. Feeding a high-quality fish food like Purina® Aquamax® (Largemouth, MVP, 400, 500, 600) will help your fishery become the thing of legends. Bjornsen Pond Management recommends and sells the complete Aquamax product line. We have years of history with Aquamax, feeding it to fish in our own ponds.

When we design a custom feeding program for you, we emphasize the following:

  1. There is a significant difference in the quality of commercially available fish foods. Many are full of bulk fillers—fillers that will not contribute significantly to the growth of your fish. Aquamax fish foods are high in protein for fast muscle growth.
  2. There is really no such thing as “one size fits all” fish food. We feed various sizes of food—smaller pellets for panfish, and jumbo “largemouth” pellets for bigger fish. It is a fact—big fish want big food. We see this every day as we run different pellet sizes in feeders side-by-side. Smaller fish are attracted to the smaller pellets. While big Bass and Catfish devour the large pellets.
  3. We inventory Aquamax in our shop, and we strive to have food available to you at all times. You can pick up your bags directly from us, or we can ship bags to you.
  4. Feed consistently. If you follow our feeding plan, the growth of your fish will follow.

It’s Time to Feed Your Fish!

Bjornsen Pond Management will be traveling to central Iowa to exhibit at the 2019 Iowa Deer Classic Show, March 1-3, 2019 at the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines, Iowa. We have participated in this show in the past and it has always been a great show. We had the opportunity to meet with so many of you last year and we look forward to catching up with you again. And, of course, we also forward to meeting new pond and fishing enthusiasts.

What is happening under your ice?

Come visit with Kevin Bjornsen from Bjornsen Pond Management to talk about what is likely happening under the ice on your pond this winter and what you can expect to see this spring when the ice goes out. A warm early winter—followed by record cold temps—followed by record snowfall has created an interesting challenge for pond owners and managers. Warm spring temperatures will give us all a glimpse of what we will be dealing with as we go from spring into summer. Kevin would love to meet with you and to learn about your concerns—whether it be fish populations, explosive weed growth, or pond enhancements for the warmer months ahead.

If you can’t make the 2019 Iowa Deer Classic show, we will be at others in eastern Iowa in upcoming weeks:

We are putting our schedule together now for pond audits with electrofishing, and fish stocking for Spring 2019. Contact us via our Online form or Or call (319) 350-2918 to reserve your spot on our schedule! Or, better yet, give us a call and come visit with us at the 2019 Iowa Deer Classic show in Des Moines.

We look forward to meeting with you at the 2019 Iowa Deer Classic show and getting to know you and your pond needs!