What are "Ponds"

[firefightn15]

I guess that I understand what a pond is, but what I don't understand is why so much of it in the southeast.  I have been reading threads for the last few months trying to sort it out, but don't get it.  Is it that there is a lack of localized natural waters?  

A couple of questions.

1.  Generally, how big are they?

2.  Who maintains them?

Thanks to anyone who can give me a heads up.

[Sam]

A pond is a small body of water that is land locked.

It can be as small as a square block or as large as 25+ acres.

Ponds can be man-made or natural.

Ponds can be stream fed or rain/drainage fed.

There are ponds all over the place, north, south, east and west.

Obtain a detailed road map of your geographical area, in color if possible, and you will see all of the ponds in subdivisions, office complexes, apartment complexes, woods, off main river channels, etc.

Fishing ponds is a lot of fun as the are usually stocked with bream bass, crappie and bass by either the municipality or individuals.

Depending on the ownership rights, ponds are owned by either a municipality, corporation, partnership or individual.

Finding good ponds to fish is always a challenge but a lot of fun to try them out.

I found a pond that I have driven by for years and it is loaded with bass.  Tonight we went to dinner with a friend and her son (who I take fishing) and we walked over to the pond in the shopping center and noticed minnows which tells me there are fish in that pond so I will plan to fish it in the future.

You can "Google" ponds to get the official definition but I think you know what a pond is.

Now, get off your duff and look around your geographical area for ponds in apartment complexes, shopping centers, office complexes or state parks and do some fishing.

[Sam]

Colleges and universities have ponds as do golf courses.

Sorry I forgot these entities.

[skillet]

This may not be the whole story. In the 50s the goverment (state I think) came thru and would dig a "pond" for folks and stock it for free. I have fished ponds 50' across  to the point where they become small lakes. The folks that owned the land were responsible for what happened to them after they were dug and stocked...

                         As Ever,

                          skillet

[boatnik13]

I got another answer!  I know of ponds that are larger in size than alot of lakes in the same region. I also noticed names of lakes ending in the word "lake"  and others starting the name with "lake". Confused? so I asked my State biologist for the answer. The answer is that there isen't any form to the name such a impoundment as lake, pond, reservouir or dam. Now  dam and reservoir are not naturel and pond and lake can be. Its mostly in the name given by whom ever in the State of Pa. So I guess I'm basicly saying thats how Pa. does it. Depends on your state regs.   Just thought I'd stir things up tonight!

[firefightn15]

I'm familiar with what a pond is, in a strict definition.  I just have never been able to experience fishing the west, south, or east.  Up here when you say your going fishing, your headed to the lake or river.  

I have a multitude of lakes to fish, allbeit, small ones, which are fairly close to me.  When I read about alot of the guys in  different areas of the country, especially the south and southeast pond fishing, I am just wondering if that means they don't have lake and river fishing readily available to them.

[warmer]

When I read about alot of the guys in  different areas of the country, especially the south and southeast pond fishing, I am just wondering if that means they don't have lake and river fishing readily available to them.

in central florida a lot of our man-made "ponds" are reclaimed phosphate ponds from strip mining.  you dig a hole in florida and it fills with water.  they have steep banks and are easy to fish from shore, and they are all over the place.  after the mines were through they were required to "reclaim" them (plant a little vegetation and stock them).  many went untouched for years, and they are crazy little bass factories because they generally have good forage and great depth.

it is not for lack of option that a lot of people fish them around here, it is that they are a better option.  ever watched a bill dance show?  there are still plenty of private ponds around here where you would be disappointed if you didnt catch 50+ a day.  and up until recently there was a club or two with access to multiple pits/ponds.

natural ponds around here are general shallow remnants of smaller sinkholes.

[JShrock07]

To me a pond could be anything either man-made or made by the man above. It could be huge or it could be small... I only call a Lake a lake if it is big enough to luanch a boat in. A pond to me is way to small to put a boat in... and when I say a boat I mean a decent size bass boat. not a jon boat.

I know from expierience that fishing a pond is much more productive then a lake and it is a lot easier to fish.

I hope this helps you out some.

[Daniel My Brother]

A few big advantages ponds have over lakes.

1. Most are private. That means little fishing pressure and stupid (easier to catch) fish. These ponds don't necessarily make you a better fisherman, but they can surely make you a happier fisherman.

2. Ponds are small. This means the fish have fewer places to hide. One of the farms I fish has 6 ponds. Some I can fish every inch of shorline in an hour. Others I can spend the day on.

3. Ponds are more easily managed. Through stocking, selective harvest, feeders, brushpiles, even old tires (for channel cats) a pond owner can create an environment where different breeds of fish thrive.

I like the challenge of fishing large bodies of water and I enjoy the scenery, but I will never turn down a chance to fish a new pond. It's like a box of chocolates.

[619bassman]

lakes are plenty available but ponds are all OVER the place and a ton of fun to fish

[Bassin_Fin@tic]

Seems to me that "pond" is just a term for "small lake".

I think everyone would have their own opinion as to the size qualifications that make a body of water either a lake or pond.

[Olebiker]

I am originally from Kentucky and, when we talked about a pond, it implied a farm pond.  My friends from Texas would call that a tank.

I fish in a fifteen acre "lake" that my displaced yankee neighbors insist on calling a pond.  The vagaries of the English language are wonderful to behold.

[fishfordollars]

It's a stock tank down here.

[WRB]

The term pond has a different meaning depending where you live. The size of the small body of water should be the definning criteria, however like most terms in bass fishing, each region has there own interpretation.

Where you live, Wisconsin, Minnesota ponds are called lakes as in the land of 10,000 lakes.

Where I come from a pond is a small body of water less then a 1/8 mile long or 10 acres, about 2 football fields, anything larger is called a lake.

WRB

[firefightn15]

Thanks for all the responses guys.  It's helped me get a better picture of what's being discussed and the difference in terminology depending on geographics.

[roadwarrior]

Technically, a lake has water that is deep enough that light cannot reach the bottom which prevents vegetation from growing from the bottom to the surface of the water. Otherwise, it's a pond.

http://nsm1.nsm.iup.edu/rwinstea/pond.shtm

8-)

[warmer]

Technically, a lake has water that is deep enough that light cannot reach the bottom which prevents vegetation from growing from the bottom to the surface of the water.

i am going over to kissimmee pond later this afternoon

[roadwarrior]

Well, before Europeans assigned names in the region, wasn't "Florida" just a freshwater swamp in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean? I think all the "lakes" were just widespots in the shallow rivers.

:

[mostbass]

Im not too sure about ponds being smaller than lakes, or only being able to launch a boat in a lake.  I fish a pond in Maine that is 12miles by 1mile

[Hookemdown.]

How about this:

Lakes have names, ponds do not.

[George Welcome]

A pond is a body of water smaller than a lake. In the United Kingdom, where the charity Pond Conservation has made some of the most extensive studies of ponds, the now widely adopted definition of a pond is 'A man-made or natural waterbody which is between 1m2 and 2 hectares in area, which holds water for four months of the year or more'. In other parts of Europe some biologists prefer to set the upper size limit at 5 ha, and in North America even larger waterbodies are often called ponds. The international Ramsar wetland convention sets the upper size limit for ponds as 8 ha.

Although the size cutoff between ponds and lakes is partly subjective both are formed by ponding water. Ponds may be man-made or natural in origin and can be made by excavating a hollow in which water may lie, filling an existing depression with ground or surface water or by retaining water from a stream, or by forming a dam to impound the water in a valley. Ponds can be made by a very wide range of natural processes, although in many parts of the world these are now severely constrained by human activity. In some countries backyard ponds or garden ponds are popular and common.

The techniques may be combined to form a reservoir in flat country by enclosing an area with an embankment. Such a pond, unless very small, is usually called a reservoir. In some cultures, the meaning has been extended to include small bodies of water impounded naturally.

The many different definitions traditionally applied by freshwater biologists to ponds (such as a body of water where light penetrates to the bottom of the waterbody, a waterbody shallow enough for rooted water plants to grow throughout its area, a water body which lacks wave action on the shoreline) are very difficult to apply in practice, and may vary according to season, pollution or the presence of trees around the waterbody. For example, when a pond is too heavily shaded by trees for plants to grow throughout, does it cease to be a pond? If the waterbody is polluted, light may be prevented from penetrating to the bottom of even quite shallow ponds by dense blooms of algae - yet the waterbody is still a pond. For this reason more practical definitions based on size, which can be easily measured at all times and change only if the pond is physically modified, are now widely used. In the same way, lakes can simply be defined as waterbodies which are larger than ponds.

There: now you can get as complex as you want.

[JShrock07]

Im not too sure about ponds being smaller than lakes, or only being able to launch a boat in a lake. I fish a pond in Maine that is 12miles by 1mile

Is that "pond" owned by just one person or by the govenment??

[Bob Lusk]

Well, since I am the Pond Boss, permit me to chime into this philosophical question...tongue planted firmly in cheek.

If the body of water is 3 acres or larger and it's mine, it's a lake. If it's yours, it's a pond.

But, if I am buying land with a body of water 3 acres or smaller, it's a pond. If selling same land, it's a lake.

Fish on!

[George Welcome]

I like that one Bob.