Theres vegetation in my neighborhood pond and my HOA president has been told its "pond weed" and will take over the entire pond if not killed.  Its been there for years and never covers more than 10% of the pond, it dies every winter and comes back to life every spring.

It the best cover for fish in the pond and I catch a lot of nice fish near, around and in it.

Anyone have a clue what this is ?

Anyone have a clue what this is ?

I'm not positive what plant that is, but my best guess would be Pondweed (Potamogeton).

http://www.ontariowildflower.com/images/floatingleavedpondweed.jpg

Pondweed is a very large family of aquatic plants, and here in Florida the local moniker for pondweed is "peppergrass"

and when I fished in Canada the local name is "cabbage", a broadleaf form of pondweed, and the favorite plant of northern pike.

If it's pondweed, then you're dealing with a highly beneficial and non-invasive plant

that doesn't threaten to overrun your pond. It's a favorite submergent plant of bass,

exceeded only by milfoil and hydrilla, and is much loved by waterfowl and turtles.

Roger

thanks for the info roger

It looks like "American Pondweed" (Potamogeton nodosus). There are quite a few species of Potamogeton, but only a few that have elliptical floating leaves. P. nodosus is apparently found in Texas:

http://aquaplant.tamu.edu/database/submerged_plants/american_pondweed.htm

Ditto Roger on the fact that it won't "take over". The reason it's in one location is because the soil/substrate is right for it there. Many pondweeds have a seasonal growth period and then die back like you describe. All pondweeds create food, oxygen, and cover and attract bass.

In my part of Florida it is common to eradicate weeds in both community ponds and canals, they spray every few months.  Most HOA's do not care about fishing, although I know one community that has a fishing dock, but they still kill the weeds. 

One thing I can't understand is that I have 6 ponds where I live, 4 have fish and 2 don't.  All ponds are connected underground for water level control and then connected to the canal outside the community. Gators swim back and forth but the fish don't.

In my part of Florida it is common to eradicate weeds in both community ponds and canals, they spray every few months. Most HOA's do not care about fishing, although I know one community that has a fishing dock, but they still kill the weeds.

One thing I can't understand is that I have 6 ponds where I live, 4 have fish and 2 don't. All ponds are connected underground for water level control and then connected to the canal outside the community. Gators swim back and forth but the fish don't.

I've got the same problem with my HOA. We don't have gators, but Clearwater shows up every few months and sprays the crap out of my lake. The fishing has really declined over the last few years because of it. The lower oxygen levels have really started to drive fish out into some of the other areas. The peacocks seem to thrive in my lake though, go figure. I want to catch more largemouth   They say the spray is only effective with the Hydrilla, which is a load of BS.