# Cattail Overload



## DJH (Aug 9, 2013)

Cattails are dominating my pond. I have some big catfish












in here I'm worried the Cattails will hinder their survival. How can I get rid of these!


Dakota


----------



## fishingful (Apr 5, 2004)

We just had a company kill some in ponds at work. I have no idea what it was but it was blue and they sprayed it in the water.


----------



## DJH (Aug 9, 2013)

Maybe I can go to the county ODNR office and ask


Dakota


----------



## Lundy (Apr 5, 2004)

Many of us have been through the same issues.

http://www.ohiogamefishing.com/community/showthread.php?t=230254


----------



## HatersGonnaHate (Jun 4, 2013)

They are very tough to get completely out. You would have to remove the roots of all of them. Buddy has a pond and he shovels them out by the roots in part if it. That normally holds them off for about a summer and the. The main part spreads back. If you want a quick if just take a machete and chop them. They will grow back but just chop them again. The cat tails shouldn't hurt the fish and should provide cover for fry and frogs. Using chemicals works but is risky unless your sure your using the right dose.Even then sometimes fish kills occur


----------



## FISNFOOL (May 12, 2009)

You can always harvest them as a food source. 

No green plant produces more edible starch per acre than the Cat O Nine Tails; not potatoes, rice, taros or yams. Plans were underway to feed American soldiers with that starch when WWII stopped. Lichen, not a green plant, might produce more carbs per acre. One acre of cattails can produce 6,475 pounds of flour per year on average (Harrington 1972).


I like all the recipes on this site. And you can sub cattail pollen for some or all the wheat flour in most baking recipes.

http://www.eattheweeds.com/cattails-a-survival-dinner/


----------



## [email protected] (Dec 22, 2006)

In the correct ratio, they can reduce fertility an provide habitat but when they become overabundant the cattails strip the water of nutrients of too many nutrients cutting off the very bottom of the food chain. Too many cattails often results in clear water, slowed growth of fish. They also attract muskrats and other critters.

The best and most sure way to remove them is digging them out...usually with an excavator. The digging out method is best as the rhizome can be completely removed, the shoreline deepened, and the plant matter is removed rather than decaying in the pond. Glysophate mixed with diquat and a surfactant to cut through the waxy surface will also knock them back pretty hard but the dead plant matter will end up decomposing in the pond and they will quickly return from seed.

I have a small patch that I use at a swale inlet to filter water coming into the pond and take up excess nutrients. I chemically control them and rake out the dead ones about every other year. My banks are lined with #2 limestone over geotextile and they slope at 5:1 in that area making it easier to keep them under control. I also manually pull out or spray any stragglers as they appear.


----------

