Well, after playing the wonderful world of mortgage games, it's offical, we close Friday...Never knew it was so much work to get an aprasail!!!

Now for the good stuff...The pond is a well fed pond right at a half acre from using planimeter to measure...Supposed to be 12' at its deepest point...Shape is kind of trapizoidal...Very manicured with stone around edges...It already has aeration from a windmill and electic pump..Small floating dock...

I can see BG and FHM from the edges since the weather is warming...

And now for the question you guys all love to answer...What do I do FIRST?...

Congrats! First thing I would do; go pond side and kick it with a few cocktails...I remember that moment..it was a very special one for me and my family!! Congrat's again.

I would probably have a beer on the dock. Make sure your Wife is sitting with you. It will pay off big time.

Good advice so far!

Beer by the pond is always a good thing...

The house and pond are just on the edge of town...Was originally supposed to be a shared pond, but the neighbors wanted no part of it... Wish it was a little more secluded and private, but my wife wants no part of county living...GRRRRRR!!!!

The goals I have set for it are a place for the boys to swim and hang out as well and manage for BIG BG...

Down the road goals are a fixed position dock and move the smaller floating dock to the center for a swim platform...

Will probably go with artificial structure unless someone can give me a good reason I should not...

To feed or not feed, that is another question?..To my knowledge no one has ever fed the fish in the pond...Will know more on Friday...

Getting more excited by the minute!!!

Congrats!

Do you actually own the whole pond, or just part and are will be taking care of the whole thing by default?

I will own the whole thing... Their property starts about 25 yards to the east of it.. So I have enough room to run a piece of equipment if needed on that side...

Good. If you didn't own the whole thing, and the neighbor started to take a liking to the pond after you fixed it, they could really booger things up if they stocked fish that didn't agree with your long term goals.

No need to rush into things. Get a good idea of the fish population in there. Species, size, condition and numbers. BG that aren't feed trained will learn to eat pellets, it just takes longer. What's nice about artificial structure is that it doesn't degrade over time.

The key to getting the fish to realize pellets are good to eat is to feed a very palatable food, and feed at the same time every day in the same place in the pond.

You just mentioned the key ingredient; boys.

My cousins husband is an avid fisherman and he is going to fish it with me for a make shift fish survey...

Also stopped at the local feed store.. They are going to get me a price on AM500 tomorrow..

They are very excited and love the outdoors... Our youngest just turned 6 today.. Our oldest turns 9 in July...

Grandmas are both a little reserved about the pond being right out the back door, but they are both pretty good kids and have been around water their entire lives.. Not saying I trust them, believe me I was a little boy once...

Sounds like a dream come true. How bout some pics?

I actually don't have any pictures but will get them up as soon as I get some..

Congrats! Lucky it is close to the house, mine is 1000' away. Never take it for granted that you have a pond, it is a wonderful distraction from the "grind".

You could break out the canoe and try to map the bottom a little. Make sure your 12' is really 12'!

Congrats! Now grab a rod and a beer and see what is in there!

Here is google image of the new house and pond...

That's a purty place!! You'll get a lot of enjoyment out of it.

Fantastic. Thinking about what you might be feeling -- there is an old adage that the happiest two days of a boat owner's life is the day he buys it and the day he sells it. It isn't that way with ponds. Most of us have loved them from before we actually had them -- kind of liking waiting for a new baby to be born. For us "mature" guys, we don't want to face the day we get too feeble to play with our ponds.

The kids will greatly benefit from it. It will be a place of friends and family gatherings. It will be a place of great memories.

Take some time to get the know the pond a little bit. The season is still early. Figure out what is in the pond. The fishing pole survey you are planning is a great first start. Keep track of what you catch by size and type. Figure out what your goals are. Feeding will also help give you an idea of what size fish are in the pond. Many here can help guide you in your planning.

When you do your bottom mapping -- if it ain't 12' foot deep, it is no big deal. If it is more than 6-7 foot deep, that is all you really need.

Good luck, and welcome to Pond Boss.

Ken

P.S. You posted the photo while I was preparing this note. It looks beautiful.

dang you could fish right off the deck your a really lucky guy.

Looks great. When I clicked on this thread again and saw your house and pond, I said "now what could possibly be the problem here", so I had to reread the thread. You're going to love that place. You mentioned that your youngest is 6, how old is the other?
Also, they can swim, right?

ODL247, that is a beautiful place. Good luck.

Great place there 247! Again, Congrats!

Thanks for all the positive comments guys..

As for depth that will be one of the 1st things I check when time allows...I do know it was 6 feet deep at the end of the dock...

Boys (almost 9 & 6) and swimming, yes but I still don't trust them...We have a camper at the river in the town I grew up in and they know to stay away without adult supervision..

The house also has a closed loop geothermal in the pond, but other than that no structure that I know of..

Closed on the house today... Been cleaning and trying to get a must do list done... Goal is to move on the 1st weekend in May... Just say down to eat some pizza then back to work.... Only took one picture but can't post from my phone...

Cool!

Congrats!

A pic looking out my patio door...

NICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I would give my left uhhhhhhhhh, lets just say arm for now, for that place. That is gorgeous. Congrats !!!!!!!

Couple more from the other side...

Jackpot!!!

Dang, I think you did good.

A beautiful place.

Yep! Really Cool!

Party at 247's place!

Boy, looks like I have a ways to go on my trophy BG..

How long is this going to last running 24/7..

Just a quick tip. Wet surfaces before putting fish on them. Man you have an awesome place!

Thanks, never heard that before..

Yeah, it helps keep the slime coat on the fish. Get 'em eating pelleted fish food and you'll be suprised how fast they grow!

Today didn't really go as planned... The ground was still a little soggy so I didn't get a lot done around the yard and pond... So that being said the wife decided I needed to go furniture shopping... Defiantly wasn't on my to do list !!!... But in the little bit of time I was out the new neighbor stopped to say hey and let me in on the fish kill the pond had experienced last year... Said they took buckets and buckets if dead fish out...

Tomorrow night my cousins husband is coming over to run an outlet for the dryer so I told him to bring his poles so we can do a little bass fishing.. If anyone can catch them it is him...

The answer to how long will the motor run? Until it stops. You are welcome(first answer is free).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3R5gHF0vzew

Thank you, thank you very much.

That's good, most forums I charge an entertainment fee for my stupid questions...

Ask away, the answers are usually dumber then the questions.

Two days of sun and this....

Water level is still way up and don't see it falling for a couple more days due to area rivers and creeks still being above flood stage...Actually don't know what it is going to do because there is no outlet pipe...

The small BG are right up to waters edge in the rocks..Water color has definatly changed for the worst...Holy cow this sitting at work is driving my crazy!!!

Now if you were in Indiana, you could stock Tilapia to take care of that problem.

That is FA correct?...

I have read and read about grass carp...Are they actually any good for FA or do they just eat grass clipping?...

Sweet!! Not only is the pond awesome, but your house, patio, and yard are great too. You can tell someone put a lot of effort into it all.

Welcome to lawn fertilizer! I would bet that the nutrient level in the pond is pretty high from lawn run-off. Get that water tested ASAP to see what you have to work with.

Thanks..The pond was built and the the lots were prepared about 15 years ago...The house we bought was built is 2005...The builder actually lived in this home until they were approached about selling...They originally planned on staying so they put alot into upgrades...

Where can I get a tester that tells all you guys need to know?...All I have found local is ph and water hardness testers...

Here in WV and VA we can get it done through our USDA/Extension Service offices. Since Illinois has more than just a little bit of agriculture, I would expect that you have an extensive Extension Service network. I'd start with this website: Illinois Extension Service.

I've been formally and informally involved with Extension Service since I was a little kid (think 4-H) in Wisconsin, and I still work with them nearly every week. I don't think I've ever run across an Extension Service employee who was unfriendly or incompetent. They can give you a lot of assistance besides just testing your pond water.

Yep, Ag services or take a sample and send it away. Great Lakes in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, Texas A&M University, etc. all do the testing that you are looking for. There's other universities that do the testing too. I haven't looked into Purdue but they are heavily into agriculture among other subjects.

Nitrogen, Phosporous, Alkalinity, Hardness, pH, etc.

Grass Carp will eat FA, but it's a ways down their preferred food list. For a FA only problem, I wouldn't stock them.

Okay, Spent my entire lunch hour on the phone trying to get answers on water samples...Talked to local water and soil conservation then ILDNR and finally PDC labs...PDC is going to call me back with answers on what they can do for me...

Will on the phone withmy local DNR fisheries biologist he suggested planting water celery, water stargrass and american pond weed to help with the addition nutrient overload...Is this good advice for a 1/2 acre pond that I want to use for swimming and fishing?..

He also suggested shore line plants and grass even though it is edge in rock...I was already thinking a filter strip of some kind, but my wife is not going to let me grow 5' tall switch grass around the pond...

Am I heading in the wrong direction with filtering nutrients or should I just spend the money and chemically treat every 6 weeks?...

Got a call back from PDC...All of their test are individual...Great Lakes in Fort Wayne said they didn't do the test and gave me Sherry labs #...No answer from them yet?..

All this for a simple water test?...What are the important things needed?..

•Conductivity
•Estimated Total Dissolved Solids
•pH
•Nitrate/Nitrite
•Chloride
•Sulfate
•Boron
•Calcium
•Iron
•Magnesium
•Manganese
•Potassium
•Sodium
•Cabonate/Bicarbonate Alkalinity
•Sodium Absorption Ratio
•Ortho-phosphate

Checked the temp of the water tonight, it was 55° at the surface and 50° at about 3 feet down... Still way up after the rain yesterday, probably 15 inches..

From the archives.

Soil and water test links

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=92617#Post92617

Thanks...I still have not figured out the search feature of this forum...

This link adds to more questions...Am I looking for a soil sample from the bottom of the pond, water sample or both?...

I have been looking into the same stuff too.

I have often seen mentioned Alkalinity and Hardness as other info needed. It seems like there isn't one place that gives you all the needed info in a single test/place.

Looks like we got a little friend out the new pond...

Finally came in...$37 out the door and the local feed store...

Your friend pic above will love the AM and so will the fish.

Was actually surprised at the size of the pellet of the 500... Not sure what I expected but wasn't that...

We have at least 2 different turtles because I saw 2 on the dock sunning the other day...

With moving, work, baseball and life in general, pond projects are kinda on hold... Hopefully the weather starts warming and I can get some free time to fish it a little more than we have been able to...

Ya got until around June 21, then the days start getting shorter.

Fish are already eating the AM500...