I've talked to the local guy that digs ponds here in Virginia and have read and read sites on pond construction made my plans and started the process.
I hope to be digging in a natural bottom of my food plot which is almost all clay feed by three wet weather springs coming out the ground 300 yrs from the pond sight.
My problem is first I want a Largemouth Bass Pond for my boys and I to play in but the lay of the land limits the size of the pond. As it stands now it will not likely to much bigger than 8 ft deep and only 120 foot by 100 ft,just over 1/4 acre.
Am I wasting my time trying to plan a pond this size for largemouth bass?
I've been looking for years now at other farm ponds in my area and none of the really small one hold and good fishing of ant kind but none are managed in any way. They were for the tobacco fields before the buyout.
I am able to makethe pond a little wider and a little longer than my first plan if I need but it won't get it close to 1/2 acre.
According to the locals I won't be able to go any deeper because of the rock bed about 10 foot down I our area.

Any advice would be great. What problems will I have?

Hello Pondnut and welcome to Pond Boss. A limiting factor for all ponds is carrying capacity. Any body of water can only hold so many fish. I believe the general consus is that a pond can safely hold about 50 pounds of predators (LMB is considered a predator) per acre. So in a quarter acre you won't be able to have a lot of huge LMB. You can alter (increase) this ratio through the use of aeration and feeding. But hang on for expert opinions.

Hey, Pondnut, welcome to the forum! Jeff is right about the limited carrying capacity of ponds and the restrictions on one your size. He's also right on about doing certain things that can increase the capacity, but I am not sure how much of an increase you can reasonably expect to obtain. Definitely need some expert opinions on that point. I wouldn't personally worry too much about your depth as you'll probably have all you need with the plan. If you can make the pond bigger, that's always a positive, but the depth is less important, I believe.

Hang on for some more thoughts.

By all means you can have a 1/4 acre bass pond just realize not going to have lots of big bass as jeff mentioend. You can still have plenty to catch. I once shocked a clients 1/4 acre pond and we shocked up 32 bass weighing 67 lbs. No way did we shock all the bass in the pond either. My point is it is doable. His lake was well stocked with bluegill and shiners, had a feeder going and aeration system.

Good point Greg. The key to small ponds is food, more food and aeration. Oh yeah, there's also luck, hard work and cash.

And that my friends brings my good post count to 37, and that ain't bad.

TJ are you paying attention here?

You need to add this to your "JHAP's Words of Wisdom" file.

Thanks I'll take the line level back to the site and see if I can steal some more of my foodplot field without making the dropoff from the field to the pond too steep. I would like to keep it close w/ no steep grade and I don't want to put too much of a bottle neck in the field. We love our bowhunting. MM

Use the pond to make the deer travel right under your stand.

During a sampling, GG found in a 1/4 ac ""32 bass weighing 67 lbs". One very important point to his post was ""was well stocked with bluegill and shiners, had a feeder going and aeration system". If you want a LMB-BG similar to this you will need to aerate and provide food- ie pellets. Since the pond is evidently in a remote location you should probably plan for windmill aeration. A windmill with fairly good wind action will easily aerate a 0.2-0.3 ac pond. Plan on total final cost for feeder and windmill to be abt an extra $2000. Used aeration windmills are sometimes available quite a bit cheaper. Although you may have to disassemble and haul yourself.

Can I use an air compressor with a long hose and a diffuser for the aeration? It's about 500 yards to the barn. I have a game feeder 6vdc powered w/ solar charge. Will that work for the feeder. I'm very low on money but very creative on engineering. What you think. MM

Yes the compressor should work, but you'll have to reduce the pressure and flow to what your diffuser will handle. The feeder might work too. If it's a directional feeder, that's best, but a rotary game feeder will work as well. If the feeder is placed on shore or a dock, you'll have to make a baffle that will direct the feed into the pond. Any bears in the area? They like fish food as well.

Orc AP made a tripod to hold the feeder that sits out in the pond where the bears can't get to.

I know you might be tempted to feed generic feed store fish food, but Purina Game Fish Chow is good, the higher protein (based off of fish, not another protein base) works even better.

Thanks one answer opens other questions.
1. Is the feeding for the brim and minnows and the bass eat the fat bait?????
2. We don't have bears but coons are running wild.
3. Based on stocking this pond properly how much food is required?
4. What size diffuser do I need for a 1/4 to 3/8 acre pond?

Look I already looking at all this and haven't moved any dirt yet.

I hope to start digging Friday if the weather holds.

All I have is a 580K Case backhoe which I sold some timber to buy.
That was my 13 yr old sons idea. My wife hated the timber cut. I did too but wanted the hoe more. MM

My general advice is it depends on the management level you are willing to undertake. The more it is run like an aquaculture operation (feed trained fish , aeration , monitored water quality , supp forage stocking , population mgt. , etc. ) the smaller it can be. With a natural pond and limited mgt then one acre is a good guideline IMO.

Thanks I'll start digging this weekend once it drops below 109 Heat index. MM