Creating a Lake

[ronjhall]

Hey Ron...Why don't you get out and do a few things since you retired?

You are havin' way too much fun.

 

[patrick_g]

LOL patrick I have seined minnows a lot of times and I am not sure I understnad your description

What you described is a standard approach. Additionally, schools of minnows will tend to collect in a tight ball when disturbed in the presence of some mud stirred up in the water and try to hide in the muddy water. The seine can get the whole school then.

When I was a lad visiting relatives in Mississippi during summer vacation they used to seine a farm pond with the poles on the ends type seine. This would net several turtles which were sailed FRISBEE style into the pig lot. Small fish depending on species might be tossed in wth the pigs. The preferred eating fish were collected in 2-3 wash tubs to be cleaned by the help. It was fun to watch the center of the net which was out in deeper water as the largest fish would be jumping over the net and avoiding capture. They made good breeding stock.

The catch was cleaned and dipped in cornmeal (see note *1 below) and dropped into one of several three legged cast iron pots over wood fires filled with boiling oil (lard.) Friends and neighbors were invited over for the fish fry to get to meet the visiting relatives (us.)


Note * 1, I had Yankee tastes as a grade schooler and had my fish dipped in flour instead of corn meal. Incidentally, our laundry was boiled in the same pots over wood fires by the help.

Pat

 

[philbuilt]

The first pic is of my land when my son took a demo flight lesson.
(Great way to get arial shot for $75)
Next is the excavator I rented for 16 hrs.
Last is the first rain 30 days after the start of the pond.
I did alot of drag box prior to the rain and smooth the bottom and edges.
there is still a huge pile of loam in the way before I can continue with phase 2.

 

[EddieWalker]

Phill,

I love the arial picture with the outlile of your pond. It's gonna look amazing when it's done!!! Post more pictures when you can, they are allot of fun to see.

Eddie

 

[jinman]

Phil, I don't think I have ever seen that color soil in Texas. It almost looks like ash. Is it mostly granite dust? Clay? ...looks very dry and powdery.

 

[philbuilt]

Eddie,
Thanks for the kind words the project is fun. I can't wait for the snow to be gone to go back and and start digging and adding the rock perimitter.

Jinman,
The pond is at the back bottom of my land. The ground had approx. 12" of silt/clay loam. The next level was like a very dry clay. 6' down was the wet clay. The hole that I dug that weekend is about 75' x 295' with the depth ranging from 2' to 12'

Now the big dilema is do I continue to post here or start new post? This ones Eddie's
Phil

 

[Bird]

Now the big dilema is do I continue to post here or start new post? This ones Eddie's

It really is difficult to not get a little off topic at times, at least for me, and hopefully it doesn't hurt anything. But I'll vote in favor of you starting a new thread in the same forum; maybe call it "Digging a Pond" or whatever name you like, simply because Eddie's thread is already so long.

 

[EddieWalker]

... simply because Eddie's thread is already so long.

Bird makes a good point. One of the best things about this site and starting a thread on a project is that it's a permanent record of what you did and when you did it.

I've gone back to this thread to figure out when I did something and what order my pictures were taken. I've also used this site to show friends and potential clients some of the things I've done. They can follow along, or read about it when they like.

You're more then welcome to add to this thread, but having your own thread on your pond would give you an ongoing record of the project. As I'm sure you noticed with this thread, it doesn't end with the digging. I still have a bridge to build over my spillway, a gazebo to build on my peninsula and a picnic area that I'm still building up with dirt. This could go on forever.

Eddie

 

[philbuilt]

I will start a new post when I get started again.
Thanks Phil

 

[GaryBDavis]

Eddie,

I see you have some experience with bermuda here in Texas. I'm a bit south of you, but still pretty much the same climate and I need to seed 3 acres where I just built a new home.

The local feed store carries a common bermuda at $5.50/lb. I'd like to support local-family owned stores, so I'd like to buy from them. I looked at the tag on the bag and it reads:

Bermuda Grass (Hulled)
Cynodon Dactylon
Pure Seed: 98%
Other Crop: 0.8%
Inert: 1.2%
Germination: 85%
Noxious Weed: None

Any comments you have would be appreciated.

They also have a bermuda seed called Texas Tough which I believe is distributed by East Texas Seed Company. It's made to compete with costal bermuda but can be seeded rather than sprigged. If you or anyone else has any experience with this, please let me know. It runs $375 for a 50lb bag and is seeded at 10lb/acre. I'm not planning on using it in my yard, but would like to try some in the pastures.