Link to pictures of my new pond....

[sendero]

Early this year, I decided I wanted to clean up my little 1/2 acre pond and expand it. I wanted a really big pond, but the elevation between my old pond and the north end of my property was only 5 feet, so I was limited in my ability to raise the level. I settled for what I could safely get without the pond extending onto others' property, that being about 1.8 acres.

I took pix along the way to show family. They show the breaching of the old dam, the building of the new dam, and lots of dirt moving and tree clearing. The man who oversaw the dozer work said it would take 2-3 years to fill up. The soil engineer said it would probably fill up next spring. We had a good rain in early Nov and it is within 3 feet of being full (out of 18' depth at the deepest point). I'm pretty sure it will be full before the end of the year /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

See the pix at http://www.terzon.com/pond

 

[Bird]

Looks great, Billy, and that's a nice set of pictures, too.

 

[fishman]

Sendero,

Looks really good. Now that you've got the water, mind if I make some recommendations on fish stocking? I know you kept part of the old pond to repopulate the new pond (I wouldn't have), but the fish in that pond likely are not the right species and/or present in correct numbers. You've spent some good money on your new lake, now spend just a little more and make it a good fishing lake.

The following assumes you want a good catfish/bass lake, with some opportunity for your kids to catch some nice panfish.

In the spring, stock 500 coppernose bluegill and 500 redear, as well as 10 lbs of fathead minnows. This assumes that some bluegill were present in the old pond. If not, increase bluegill stocking by an additional 500. Start feeding new fish and existing catfish when water temps are consistently above 65 degrees, usually sometime in April around here.

The minnows will provide short-term forage (<1 year), the coppernose will provide forage for the life of the pond, and the redear will provide parasite control by eating the intermediate hosts (snails) and will also get large enough to provide a lot of fun.

In the fall, stock an additional 100 channel catfish 6-8" long and 75 bass 4-6" long. Waiting 'til the fall ensures that your baitfish spawn and create a bunch of forage for your new predators. DO NOT be tempted to stock crappie in your new lake because they generally overpopulate and stunt in such a small pond. You'll hear the occasional tale of good crappie fishing in small ponds, but those are the exception, not the rule.

The reason for stocking additional catfish is that in smaller lakes, catfish will spawn, but the babies are almost always eaten up by the bass. Some folks try and put in spawning structures, but those can cause a whole new set of problems. With catfish, it's best to know how many you have and just replace them as needed with small ones. They only cost about 50 cents apiece.

Cost for the above in Texas would be about 50 cents apiece for the bluegill, redear, and catfish, $10 per pound for minnows, and $2 each for the bass. By my calculations, that is about $800. Can you have a good pond without stocking? Maybe, but I would never take that chance.

Fish are usually available via a "fish truck" that comes around to your local feed store. These can be a good option if you make sure you get what you're supposed to and don't accept substitute species. For example, hybrid bluegill are not an acceptable substitute for coppernose bluegill. Hybrids are designed to grow big and get caught, whereas coppernose provide forage for bass. Well, you get the picture.

If you want additional info, a good place to start is Pondboss. Click on "Ask the Boss" to get to the forums.

 

[sendero]

Fishman, thanks for the comprehensive suggestions. I do intend to make this into a fishing pond, that was my main reason for building it.

You are not the first to suggest that I should have drained the old pond completely. I'd be interested in your reasons why.

When we first drained the pond, I had 20-30 pretty good sized catfish (I'd added 50 6" the previous year, they were now mostly about a pound) and a boatload, I mean thousands of mostly very small bluegill. It looks like the catfish ate most of the bluegill during the several months the pond was tiny.

I intend to add bluegill, catfish and bass. I put a lot of brush in the bottom of the pond for "structure" (see the pix).

Funny you should mention pond boss. My first step in getting the pond work done was to consult with Bob Lusk, whose office happens to be about 8 miles from this pond /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif He visited my site and got me started in the right direction, and I plan to do a lot of reading at pondboss.com to nail down my stocking plan.

 

[fishman]

Sendero,

Sounds like you are on the right track. Bob Lusk is very knowledgeable and you could do a lot worse than following his advice.

Structure is good. Somehow I missed that in the pics.

The reason I would have drained the original pond would involve the possibility of carryover of unwanted fish species. Those include crappie, green sunfish, and bullheads. Also, if any bass were present, they would inhibit the creation of large quantities of forage that bass stocked in the fall would be able to use.

But if you didn't have any bass or crappie in the lake, and all of the catfish were channel cats, you're probably just fine. And you did manage to save a sizeable number of larger cats for your new lake. I say onward to better things and don't look back. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[sendero]

Fine business /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif I'm pretty sure there were no bass, and darn sure there were no crappie, in the old pond.

All that was there when I got there was a boatload of bluegill (or similar perch, I'm not an expert at identification). I put in some fatheads and the channel cat. One of the catfish is an "albino", and he's our pond health marker. When we feed them (as we did mostly while the pond was tiny), when we see him come up and eat we know everything's ok /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Those cat are at 1.5 lbs plus now. I'm gonna let them make babies /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif