Every duck hunter knows the sunrise and the sound of wind over fast wings…

PLM helps make it better.

Many preparations proceed a morning waterfowl experience that leaves unforgettable memories. There is nothing that would make PLM happier than to assist in the planning, designing, implementation and management of your property's potential for increased waterfowl management.

Wetland Restorations and Creations

• Site review and assessment
• Program application, income and cost share opportunities
• Planning, design and survey (water level is critical!)
• Implementation, construction and seeding
• Pool level management and assessment

Wetland Enhancement

• Pool level management
• Waterfowl Food Plots - Sago, Celery, Wild Rice, Freshwater Shrimp... it's the food that attracts the ducks!

Just having water alone is not always enough to attract and hold waterfowl to your site. Ducks like water...but they like food even more. Proper pool level management will constructively manage aquatic vegetation by encouraging and enhancing native aquatic vegetation and invertebrates. Stagnant deep waters with high turbidity will not allow needed sunlight to reach the substrate, therefore not germinating desirable aquatic plants. With this, the food chain is broken and invertebrates will also not have the vegetation to grow and feed on.

Sago - "narrow leafed pond weed". Grows well in shallow waters 10 to 36 inches in depth. Produces a seed pod that waterfowl go crazy over. Divers and puddlers will come along ways for a good "sago pond". Planted in spring just after ice-out. Call for current pricing and place orders in advance for spring harvest.

Planting instructions -
Option 1 - "Mud balls" - Find mud consistent enough to roll tubers inside of mud ball and let dry. When dry, simply gently place around selected installation area. Concern is if the bud balls should soften or dissolve, the tubers could come lose and float to the surface where they will be eaten.

Option 2 - "Nails" - Drive a heavy enough nail through one or two tubers that will cause the tuber(s) to sink. Caution is that the pearly white tubers are still readily seen by waterfowl, muskrats and beaver and could be targeted for a meal.

Option 3 - "Sand Bags" - Pour a half a cup of dry sand/gravel in the bottom of a penny bag (small brown bag like you used to get candy in at the dime store). Then place 3 to 5 tubers in the bag and pour an additional half cup of sand/gravel on top of the tubers. Then put two staples in the top of the bag to hold...do not fold the bag. Place these package tubers in a cooler or crate that will hold the weight of several packages. Gently place the packages in the water and allow to settle to the bottom. The bags will take on a rusty brown color and camouflage it from predators. The sand/gravel median will greatly increase germination success. Concern is that this is more labor intensive in preparing the packages but the extra work is worth the increased chance of success!

Prefers water depths of 12 to 36 inches with sandy to muddy bottoms.

Recommended seeding rate - 1000 tubers/ac.

Wild Celery - "ribbon grass". Grows well in 2 to 9 ft. water depths. Produces a sought after tuber. Divers will agitate the bottom releasing the tubers which float to the surface. Upon returning the surface, the tubers are quickly eaten up. Planted in spring just after ice-out. Call for current pricing and place orders in advance for spring harvest.

Planting instructions -
Option 1 - "Mud balls" - Find mud consistent enough to roll tubers inside of mud ball and let dry. When dry, simply gently place around selected installation area. Concern is if the bud balls should soften or dissolve, the tubers could come lose and float to the surface where they will be eaten.

Option 2 - "Nails" - Drive a heavy enough nail through one or two tubers that will cause the tuber(s) to sink. Caution is that the pearly white tubers are still readily seen by waterfowl, muskrats and beaver and could be targeted for a meal.

Option 3 - "Sand Bags" - Pour a half a cup of dry sand/gravel in the bottom of a penny bag (small brown bag like you used to get candy in at the dime store). Then place 3 to 5 tubers in the bag and pour an additional half cup of sand/gravel on top of the tubers. Then put two staples in the top of the bag to hold...do not fold the bag. Place these package tubers in a cooler or crate that will hold the weight of several packages. Gently place the packages in the water and allow to settle to the bottom. The bags will take on a rusty brown color and camouflage it from predators. The sand/gravel median will greatly increase germination success. Concern is that this is more labor intensive in preparing the packages but the extra work is worth the increased chance of success!

Prefers water depths of 12 to 108 inches with sandy to muddy bottoms.

Recommended seeding rate - 1000 tubers/ac.

Wild Rice - Grows well in 12 to 48 inches but loses some germination success after 48 inches. Produces seed heads that drop in the fall and are highly desired by all waterfowl species. Planted best in the fall before ice-over but can be carried over with good success in the spring after ice-out. Call for current pricing and place orders in advance for fall harvest.

Planting instructions - Simply reach in the bag and throw handfuls of rice out over the desired seeding area. The rice is shaped so that is acts like an arrow and self plants itself into the bottom. * Notice - wild rice is smelly stuff and it is recommended to wear rubber gloves and old clothes when planting...it is not rotten, it just smells that way.

Prefers water depths from 12 to 48 inches with muddy bottoms. Moving water is not required. We have successfully established wild rice in ponds that are land locked and restored wetlands that were in the middle of crop fields. Wild rice can not tolerate water levels greater than 36 to 48 inches over several years as well as turbid waters that receive alot of suspended sediment as light has to reach the bottom annually to germinate the seed.

Recommended seeding rate - 50 lbs./ac.

Freshwater Shrimp - "amphipods", "scuds". Do well in most waters but are susceptible to acidic waters and high turbidity. Very important and highly desired food source by waterfowl. Installed January through March. Call for current pricing and place orders in January and February while supplies last. Shrimp are harvested from the wild and supplies are limited... please order early to secure.

Installation instructions:
Step 1 - Secure shrimp early! It is only available January and February and sometimes into March but it goes quickly and there is only a limited supply to harvest from the wild. Once harvested, the shrimp HAVE TO BE INSTALLED WITHIN 24 to 48 HOURS
Step 2 - If you are installing through the ice, drill a hole with an ice auger. If you are not installing through the ice, go to Step 3.
Step 3 - Place the bag in the water and open the top but do not allow water in. Allow the water in the bag time to acclimate to the temperature of the water you are installing the shrimp into. This could take 5 to 10 to 15 minutes...it is better to be safe. Large differences in water temperature could shock the shrimp.
Step 4 - Once temperature is close, gently allow some water into the bag from the pond. Continue to allow some water in over a 3 to 5 minute period. This will allow the shrimp to acclimate to the different water chemistry of the pond to the bag.
Step 5 - Once temperature and water chemistry are acclimated, gently pour the contents of the bag into the pond. If you are pouring the contents into the augured hole, gently push the contents down below the ice.

Prefers clean water. Shrimp are invertebrates...their shells are made of calcium and they are gill breathers. This makes them very vulnerable to slight acidity of water (dissolves the shell) and high turbidity (plugs their gills). You pond can not have excessive run-off from adjacent fields, ditches or tile lines as these impacts will most likely add variables that will kill the shrimp. Another major concern is drift from spraying insecticides such as the ones that are sprayed for soybean aphids and grasshoppers. If this is an issue or concern, not to worry...call PLM and we can help you develop a plan that may buffer these variables and within one or two years you may have the right opportunity that have shrimp in your water again.

Recommended installation rate - 1 to 2 gal./ac
* Note: there are 20 to 40 thousand shrimp per gallon and most of these are mated pairs which will reproduce 3 to 4 times during the year producing up to 75 young per time... that is a lot of shrimp!

Mallard Millet - Grows well on mudflats and upland areas. You can drill it in or simply broadcast over a mudflat or muddy edge. This is considered an agricultural grain so check your local baiting laws before you hunt over this product.

Recommended seeding rate - 10 to 20 lbs./ac. depending on drilling or broadcasting