Hello fellow Pondmeisters. I have a beautiful 3/4 acre pond. Last year I problably over stocked the pond with 100 LGB, 100 hybrid sriped bass, 150 channel cats, 400 hybrid blue gills. I fed the bastards religiously and they grew just like Forrest Gump said they would. With this i am pleased. i can't wait to start pulling some of the larger cats out this summer. It will remind me of my childhood in southern Indiana pulling out cats with small Johny Reb fishing poles and chicken liver until the wee hours of the morning. i probably will pull out about 5 pounds og bass and about 10 pounds of gills this summer as well out of fear of over population and attempting to keep a balance between forage fish and predator that I have read so much about on the site.

I am now considering revising the pond to be larger (1.5 acre perhaps) and I am curious if any have had experience on the thought process of pond revision? Do I need to drain the existing pond (i really would not like to do this)? Is it worth while or should just build a new pond and leave the original alone? Are the cost more to work with an exisitng pond ect. Any random thaoughts and thank you in advance if you post a reply.

Eric,

When up get a chance, take a look at the topic "Dredging a Pond" under the QUESTIONS AND OBSERVATIONS heading. Might be some helpful info there for you.

Russ

Be on the lookout for a new column in the next Pond Boss. Pond builder and bulldozer artist Mike Otto will begin writing a column dedicated to pond construction. One of his topics will be reconstruction.
In the meantime, here's a thought.
Anytime you can increase pond size by going up, do it that way. Raising the dam and/or spillway is the most cost efficient way to increase pond size.
When it comes to removing bottom soils, remember this...silt and soft soils are expensive to move, they usually have to be moved twice. Dragline or excavator brings soils out, bulldozer spreads the spoils. Twice moved, twice costs. And, you don't get a bigger pond.
Not raising the dam means digging a yard of dirt to get a yard of water. Not efficient. Not a good trade. I would certainly look at building another pond, and explore the costs to compare with cleaning out an older pond.