Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Renovating a Pond or Lake? Hold fish and limit maintenance?

There is a existing pond on a property that I bought 2 years ago near Whitesboro, TX. It's pretty small (.14 acres via satellite mapping) and I really didn't think anything lived in it at all. I've walked the bank and never seen anything moving in there. No minnows, tadpoles, frogs, turtles, snakes, etc. I thought maybe the water was tainted by previous pesticides used in the field uphill or something, so I want to get the water tested to make sure its OK. I *have* seen crawfish crawling up the hill during big rains, and just yesterday my son said he saw a huge one in the water, and there are a few holes around the banks. The good news is it currently hold water year round (even with armadillos digging holes in the backside of the dam)!

http://imgur.com/a/CrhqC

Anyways, I want to open it up a bit and get some fish in there. I was thinking that .5 acre was a minimum for doing anything, but seeing what some of the guys are doing on here with a .25 acre pond make me think that would be enough. I'm trying to figure out whether I keep the current damn (dubious/unknown quality) and cut into the pasture to expand to .25, or go all in and push the current dam back into the woods and try to get closer to a half acre. Understanding that fish size may be limited, I'd like to get some LMB going in there. Thoughts?

Recommendations for a quality pond builder near Whitesboro, TX appreciated.

mosquito, welcome to the forum.

I'd get with Mike Otto. Having him come to your property to evaluate the best placement, might be the best money you could spend. He's the guy.

Otto's Dirt Service

Agree with Al. Mike is in Lindsay; close to you.

Call the Pond Boss office (north of Whitesboro) and we'll help. (903)564-6144

If it were mine I would consider building a new pond, perhaps between the existing pond and the house if the watershed would support it.

I'm no expert, but have built both new and refurbished ponds for myself and family. I can tell you that cleaning out an old pond and getting it up to new condition will likely cost as much or more than building a new one from scratch. If you build a new pond instead of cleaning out the old then you still have the old pond for a forage pond or trash fish pond for kids. Two ponds are better than one.

If the pond is in a particular strategic location and there are no options for a good new pond location, then cleaning out the old one makes sense. But if you have a choice, my personal choice would always be create new rather than cleaning out old.

Not that you would be interested, but here is a recent post of mine showing my new pond building projects as well as refurbishing three old ones. Trust me, creating new is a much nicer experience, at least from a construction perspective.

Snrubs pond projects, new and refurbished