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Joined: Jul 2018
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I wasn't sure where to put this since it will cover several sections but I think this might be the best forum for it. We close on our new place in just over a week, this will be my first pond and I am excited to have a place to fish. The pond is just over 3 acres and it is split between my property and the neighbors so I can't make any drastic changes without us talking it over.

So what I know: 3.2 acre pond, no pond management actively going on other than the current owner having a fish feeder that he hasn't been running for the past six months.

What we don't know - What is in the pond other than catfish/LMB/bluegill of some type.

So my questions:

- What is the best way to start figuring out what is living in this pond other than throwing some lines out and seeing what we catch. Throw a cast net? Fyke net?

- Want to start running the fish feeder since I don't know the age/size/type of fish what type/size feed would be a good starting point?

My plan was to start fishing and using the relative weight calculator spreadsheets I found Here to track and then start culling out the ones under a yet undetermined size threshold. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

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Congrats on the purchase..also be careful. Sharing a pond can be a slippery slope. You may have your plan on what should be in it they may have others. Or their good old uncle Joey might catch a bunch of "bluegill" and think he's doing a favor and dump them in. Turns out they weren't what he thought they were. Neighbors come and go so it can change at any moment. That being said fishing and trapping should get you started to figuring out what's in there. Whats the depth..is there fish structure...is it aerated? Just preparing you for the questions you'll be asked. Good luck

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Originally Posted By: Mfitzs70
Congrats on the purchase..also be careful. Sharing a pond can be a slippery slope. You may have your plan on what should be in it they may have others. Or their good old uncle Joey might catch a bunch of "bluegill" and think he's doing a favor and dump them in. Turns out they weren't what he thought they were. Neighbors come and go so it can change at any moment. That being said fishing and trapping should get you started to figuring out what's in there. Whats the depth..is there fish structure...is it aerated? Just preparing you for the questions you'll be asked. Good luck


Ya that was something the wife and I discussed when we were deciding if we wanted this place, having a place that you have to share the water means you share the water and may not agree. At the end of the day the rest of the house and the pond were what we wanted.

We don't know the depth, the plan was to take my daughters kayak and the little bass buster boat eh is leaving me and go around and measure the depth all over the pond and map it out. Dont' know how I can figure out the structure but I was thinking depending on the depth and drop offs maybe putting some artificial pvc trees in a couple spots. A friend has a ton of brick left over from when they built his house and wants it gone, can you break them up and use them for a rocky like shore for spawning bass?

No aeration right now, that is a long term project along with building a dock.

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I was able to scavenge a small load of broken brick from a neighbor and created two rock piles and a couple of rings out out them.

Remember, bass like to spawn with one side of the nest against something. Whether it be a stump, log or clump of grass, anything. They want a hard bottom like sand or gravel, but dont typically spawn on a rough chunky bottom. I built my cirlces open on one side facing deep water, but left the bottom natural and the brick piles higher in the back to create a barrier against raiders. Don't know if the bass will use them, but to me they should attract my bucks to make their nests in those spots as there isn't much else for them.

The rock piles are in about 4' of water and the panfish seem to love being around them.


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Take a look at the structure archive for ideas. Larger size gravel inside the brick rings will help (not just pea gravel).

Fishing , traps and a seine survey will help you know what is in the pond.

Structure Archive

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=92463#Post92463

Seine Survey

Seining is only a part of the data set. Fishing and trapping as well as visual also add important data. See this on how to interpret seine data (taken correctly). It shows based on Swingle techniques/studies the interelationship of common populations (BG to LMB for example).

http://extension.msstate.edu/sites/default/files/publications/publications/p1428_0.pdf


see page 15-17 on mgt and balance.




Last edited by ewest; 09/05/18 11:57 AM.















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** Update **

So we moved in Friday/Saturday and Sunday I finally had time to take a look at the pond. Will post some pictures later this week for more expert input but the water looks about 3-4 foot low. Talking to the neighbors they haven't gotten much rain this summer which surprised me considering how much we had recently just south of here.

Either way my daughter got out in her kayak and the pond seems very shallow, maybe 3-4 feet in the small she paddled around before giving up due to heat. She didn't get to the far side where the dam is so not really sure how deep it will be over there but she did say it felt very silted in so that isn't a shock but still pretty disappointing.

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Well, you made a good first step, get out and assess what you have. The next step is to have a good discussion with the pond co-owner about where the dos and don'ts are going to lie. Get on paper who owns what and who is allowed to do what. Who gets to fish, who gets to keep fish? What will be the mutual agreed upon plan to dredge or revamp the pond?

There are many good postings on the forum about those who bought a pond without sounding it and found it about half as deep as they were told during the real estate proceedings. This would be a marvelous time to turn lemons into lemonade. You could breach the dam, drain it down, let it dry and then create new contours, add structure, get rid of unwanted sediment and phosphorous, and have an awesome pond down the road.

Others choose to breach or partially breach the dam, drain down partially, dig and use the resulting dirt to redo the dam or to raise the height of the dam resulting in a deeper pond in the end along with the other benefits seen above.

others would dig a new pond next to this one and use the dirt to fill in the current pond (of course saving some of the area right adjacent to the new pond for forage or grow out ponds.

Some even divide this pond into 2 or even 3 smaller ones as many have found managing 2-3 smaller ones is way easier than 1 large (3 acre) pond.

this also may be a good time to talk to the co-owner about dividing into 'his pond' and your pond and add dirt to divide. For as long as you plan to live there it is going to be much more hassle free to have your own pond rather than a shared one.

Just my 2 cents.

keep us posted on your progress and post pictures.

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Is the pond split in 1/2 ownership. Is 1 and 1/2 acres on your property? Ant way to separate out your half by building a dam or road across it? A 1 and 1/2 acre pond is plenty to enjoy and deal with without the hassle of bi ownership. I agree with canyoncreek. Good luck and let us know how it goes.


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Originally Posted By: Flame
Is the pond split in 1/2 ownership. Is 1 and 1/2 acres on your property? Ant way to separate out your half by building a dam or road across it? A 1 and 1/2 acre pond is plenty to enjoy and deal with without the hassle of bi ownership. I agree with canyoncreek. Good luck and let us know how it goes.


Below is an overhead view of the pond with a crude line of where the survey shows who owns what. Don't really see a good way to build a dam that would split it well.

Over the weekend we got between 11 - 13 inches of rain and that filled things up well over the banks and into a field. Overnight the water lines receded and I was bored so I threw a few nightcrawlers under a bobber to see what I could catch. Unfortunately I got nothing but Bullhead, about a dozen of them. I am hoping that the storms just mucked everything up and once things settle down I will find some bluegill and once I find somewhere to buy minnows I can figure out what LMB I may have. Not the start I was hoping for.



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