My wife and I just bought 15 acs. in Alba, TX. That is between Tyler and Greenville off Hwy 69. It has a small pond on it that is probably 6-8 feet at the deepest and maybe 50'x100' when full. It did not dry up during the recent droughts. No fish yet. We just sold our boat and want to put the money into either expanding this existing pond or constructing a new one. We'd like to end up with a pond between 1/2 to 1 Acs. Want to stock it with Bluegill bream and bass. Our land is flat and is a hard clay soil. The watersource is runoff from my place and my brother-in-law next door. I've visited the County Agent and also the Natural Resource office. Have piles of literature. Unfortunately, given the lay of our land, damming will not be an option. It looks like excavation is our option.I'd like whatever advice you can give me about construction. If you happen to know or live in that area and can recommend someone to construct my pond. I'd appreciate your feedback. My experience with ponds is limited. my grandfather had several on his place in Central Mississippi, but they were spring fed with dams and overflows. Your help is truly welcome and appreciated. BTW, this is my first post here.

Welcome to the board, Clint.

I'm sure this advice will get repeated, but I would strongly encourage you to buy a copy of Bob's new book about pond construction. I got mine a few weeks ago and read it cover to cover. I think it will answer a lot of your questions.

Have you got a topographic map of the property you can post? We have some good topo readers here quite knowledgeable at turning them into pond designs.