2/3 Acre Pond

[Omaha]

So I was out at my dad's place yesterday and got to talking to a couple hunters (last day of deer season) and it turns out they've been catching 8-10 lb catfish out of his creek. Now, I grew up on this farm and know these woods really well and always assumed the creek was too small to support any real fish populations. I always saw very small shad or whatever, but nothing significant. We never swam or fished the creek so we didn't know really how deep it was either. I checked out the depth in some places and it was consistently 6 feet in some spots. Very surprised by this and it got me thinking. I could dig out a pond out there. Fed by the creek and gradually stocked with fish, that'd be an awesome experience. One preliminary question I need to figure out is whether to just dig out banks on the creek so it flows right through the pond, creating a nice current throughout, or segregating it, branching it off the creek and building a grate to keep fish stock in the pond instead of floating downstream. I'm pretty excited about getting this going and creating structures on the pond's floor looks really fun. Anybody know anyone who's done this?

[-HAWK-]

http://www.pondboss.com/

This is one of the sponsors from the site. Looks like he should be able to help you out.

[WIUbassin]

Obviously I don't know much about the situation, but you might want to contact the Department of Natural Resources to make sure that you are not breaking any laws by daming/altering a creek.  Also some land owners in on the downstream side might have issues with you altering the waterway.

[simplejoe]

I would check your local laws before doing that.

A farmer did that here and he got the DEP in on it, because here you can't alter a creek, river, waterfalls..ect......but the dep guy gave the approval for the go ahead and built a 2' wide and 2' deep channel into the pond and the same so it will drain back into the creek. Believe me that dep guy was with him every step of the way no work unless he was there. This took a few months and some money but the farmer now has 15 acre pond which is still filling up. Maybe next year he'll start to stock it minnows and bluegill to get it ready for the big boys. ;D

[Omaha]

So now I'm an "active" member of Pondboss and a subscriber as of today. I've done some extensive research so far and I'll detail out what I've found and the route I've so far decided to go and see if you have any further suggestions or comments.

1. Using bulldozer

      1. Clear dead trees

      2. Take out live trees

                                               i.      Possibly leave very large trees to be partially submerged in water

                                               ii.      Set aside newly uprooted live trees for future structure

      3. Dig preliminary basin

                                               i.      3:1 slope

                                               ii.      8 feet deep

                                               iii.      Perimeter

2. Using skidloader

      1. Create uneven slopes, trenches, dropoffs, etc. throughout pond

      2. Possibly create less slope (5:1?) for small swimming area

      3. Possibly create one small deeper area (12 feet?)

      4. Create small spillway on southeast corner

3. Establish Vegetation

      1. Thick grass on banks

                                               i.      annual rye

                                               ii.      wheat

      2. Water plants for shoreline and submerged

                                               i.      pickerel weeds

                                                ii.      water willow

                                               iii.      muskgrass (chara)

                                               iv.      blue flag iris

                                               v.      sweet flag

                                               vi.      sago pondweed

                                               vii.      water milfoil

                                               viii.      hornwort

                                                ix.      curly pondweed

4. Structure

     

5. Fill

6. Stocking Fish

      1. FHM (7#), GSH (5#) in spring

      2. 270 BG, 70 RES in spring

      3. 70 LMB that fall

      4. 100 CC that fall or after

7. Floating Dock

8. Shed

9. Swimming Area

      1. Pea Rock

[Richard72]

Depth is certainly an important factor. Looks like one hell of a project!

I have a sizeable pond in my garden filled with koi, shubunkin and orfe and took quite a while to build. Will you use a liner? and it looks like you're going to keep it well oxygenated.

[Glenn]

Start here:

http://www.bassresource.com/fish_biology/building_bass_ponds.html

Then read the related articles listed in the right-hand column.

[Omaha]

If you would like to follow the progress, I have started a thread at PondBoss here.  I'd continue this one, but it's more work than I have time for putting all the info and pictures here.  

[Busy]

I'm so jealous.  We've got an awesome spot for a pond that would be fed naturally by a spring that comes out of the hill and runs into the creek...but its protected by a utility easement.  

[Shimmer]

You will have to keep us posted with some pictures through the process Omaha, good luck  

[Mike D from Lunkerville]

that sounds like an amazing project that will bring you years of pleasure. good luck! i'm jealous.

[cart7t]

Again, this is no joke, you need to add at the top of your list your findings from the state as the legality of what your doing along with a talk with your insurance agent and the state as to your liability and insurance needed for this pond your creating by damming the water.  You can be held liable for property damage along with personal injury in the event of a catastrophic dam failure that sends large amounts of water downstream.

This has become a serious issue in many states and often, engineering studies on your potential dam must be completed before you can turn the key on that bulldozer.  

[Omaha]

Again, this is no joke, you need to add at the top of your list your findings from the state as the legality of what your doing along with a talk with your insurance agent and the state as to your liability and insurance needed for this pond your creating by damming the water. You can be held liable for property damage along with personal injury in the event of a catastrophic dam failure that sends large amounts of water downstream.

This has become a serious issue in many states and often, engineering studies on your potential dam must be completed before you can turn the key on that bulldozer.

Sorry, I haven't been keeping up with this thread as much as I have others.  I have enabled the topic notification function so it should be easier.  We will not be damming up the creek.  We will not be interfering with the creek in any way.  I will post a "full report" here shortly.

[Omaha]

Ok, some before pictures.  They're not much to look at but you can see just how much brush and trees there is to get rid of before we dig.    

Just lots and lots of stumps and roots, tearing up large amounts of dirt.

Stump removal.  Very large trees and our 'dozer guy took the afternoon off so I attempted to move them with the bobcat.  

I think this one weighed about as much as the bobcat.

How not to do it.    Seriously, though, 30 seconds after this picture was taken, this stump was in the truck.  

[Shane J]

Wow, you're not playin'!! Good luck with the project, and I can't wait to hear how it turns out.

[aarogb]

    Hope it turns out well for you!!!

    Good luck!!!!!

[Hemi6677]

That's going to be cool as heck when it is done. I plan on undertaking a project like that one of these years once I find the right land for it.