We got 2" of rain a couple days ago so I ran out and checked on the pond today. I dug it 8 months ago and it was filling up pretty good until we had a big drought this Summer. Today it has more water in it than it's ever had and I'm hopeful it will finish filling up this winter. Seepage has seemed to have completely stopped and it's getting more water with every rain. It's .40 of an acre and will be 8' deep at spillway full. It needs to come up another 3 feet to be full. I've put a lb of fatheads and some CNBG and CC in it already. It's not much compared to all these huge fancy ponds you guys have but I'm glad to have it :p I dug it myself and was limited as to where a pond could go, because my land is hilly and has rocks in some of the areas that would otherwise be good pond spots.
Here's a pic from today. You can't tell from the pic but the floor of the pond slopes sharply down to the right and the water is over 5' deep there. The shallow end is the farthest away part of the pond in the pic and it's a little over 3' deep there now. There is a concrete block structure under the water there. The black thing in the water just in front of the weeds in the center of the pic is a pile of tires and concrete blocks wired together ... the top tire is barely covered by water. The black thing behind the dock posts is a big log. I'm planning on finishing the dock this Spring. btw that tree with the brown leaves at the end of the fencerow is a chestnut!
Here is my little wildlife pond. It's leaking and is not filling up very well, but there is a pretty heavy deer trail in the woods just below it. I'm going to plant several hundred trees around this tiny pond in February:
Here's a panoramic view of the "big" pond:
