Late Fall of 2016
August 2017
Hopefully will get it prepped and seeded this weekend. The pond has about 2 feet water already, so I'm thinking about putting in some FHM and thin shell crayfish after Labor day. Then in late spring some bluegill and redear sunfish. Then in the fall of 2018 going with a walleye, yellow perch, and/or hybrid striped bass mix. Maybe a few channel catfish t round out the mix. I think the pond will be around two acres surface area and 20 deep at the dam and average about 10 to 15 feet deep.
These are just preliminary plans as I plan to research the actual stocking plan this winter. For now, I'll just try to wait patiently for the pond to fill. Thanks to all the contributors who make this a wonderful resource.
Hoping an expert would chime in, but I would say the YP could go in with the BG and RES depending on how big the stocker YP are. Also, I don't know if you will have enough forage present by the time the panfish go in. You are one of the VERY few on this forum who has the luxury of being able to build a diverse forage base without any interference from existing fish. If I was in your shoes I would spent all of 2018 building forage. You could put 2-3" sunfish, and small perch stockers in later in 2018. No predators in 2018 which includes mature perch.
You then get every type of minnow you can get, golden shiners, other shiners, crayfish, shrimp, scuds, and let nature also add the dragonfly larvae, water boatmen etc. Fill the pond to capacity with forage. let the panfish grow up on the forage, then watch the forage balance play out.
My thoughts. Wow, what a beautiful pond and amazing setting.
Add FH now. Also add structure now.
I plan to use hedge (osage orange or Bowood) trees for structure in the pond. They are rampant on the property and don't seem to deteriorate very quickly. Below the dry dam, I'm thinking of going from bank to bank in about a 30-foot section to create a "nursery area." then sink a few larger trees in select spots for fish congregators. I should have some time as my watershed is marginal currently. After the crops come out terraces will be installed to increase my water shed. I plan to stake down the trees in the shallower areas and use concrete to anchor larger trees this winter.
I am no expert for sure but, 20 % cover is recommended from most everything I have read. That is a lot of trees etc for your sized pond. I would be adding it now, much easier than after it has water in it. And yep on the FHM's now. They could be reproducing already.
Types of cover are as important as %. You should design your structure plan to meet your goals as well as aid in fishing. Reproduction , protection/shelter, feeding are important matters to consider with types and placement of structure. See article in next PB mag.
Congratulations!Looks great!Do you have anymore pictures?Mine was finished Saturday.Looks like you had a much nicer site to build at.It's a great feeling to finally have it in.Now all we have to do is worry about all the other stuff and hope they hold water.lol!What all kind of grass and other plants-seeds do you plan to plant?
It does feel great to have the initial build done! Congrats on your project. The fellow who farms the acreage is going to lightly disc, lime, and fertilizer then plant a wheat-rye grass mixture this week. Then place some straw to hold moisture.
Next phase for the pond is making some swales or terraces to direct more water to the pond, one the crops come out this fall. The pond is a little short on watershed but the Conservation guy thought it would be ok with some terraces. The soil is great clay which is good for the pond project but will be a problem for a septic field in later projects.
I will post some more pictures after the weekend, I plan to visit and get a few things done.
Pictures after ground fertilized and limed, ready for seeding.
http://imgur.com/a/ZD9JV
Looks great,I like the shape!
Very Nice ! Like your stocking plan as well, what about some Small Mouth Bass to add to the mix?
Smallmouth are a definite possibility, hopefully the plan will come together this winter.
Update:
The pond is progressing steadily but slowly. Grass is now growing all around nicely.
Added five pounds of FHM this morning and built first hedge brush pile in upper end where dry dam drains into. There seems to be a low flow spring on right-hand side of the picture.
in the area between brush pile and exit pipe of the dry dam I'm thinking of planting some eel grass on one side when water reaches appropriate level. Local AG office is coming out next week to design some waterways and terraces to divert more water to pond.
I'm also thinking about adding some Golden Shiners and crawdads this fall for forage. Then bluegill and Yellow perch next summer.
Added another hedge brush pile to the other finger in pond. Also added 5# of shiners. Looks like I'll have to wait till spring to get some crayfish to add. After doing this brush pile i think I'll add some more to the first one I did, the first one looks a little anemic and isn't as dense.
Another year has gone by.... pond is still mostly empty. Marginal drainage and dry year are not a good combination to fill a pond.
https://ibb.co/m4qS2p So I terraced the hillside above the pond
https://ibb.co/b0WOa9 and ran an 8" pipe over to a well-drained draw 900 feet away,
https://ibb.co/d4u9F9 put in a dry dam to divert the water into the pond.
https://ibb.co/nQLwTU It seems to be working fine now as runoff added least two feet of water added in the last two rains.
Hopefully the pond will now fill over the winter and I can get on with the stocking plan.
Those diversions of water should help a lot. My ponds also have limited watershed and I have used field terraces to bring more water into them. It does the trick.
We had quite a bit of rain last week and the pond shows it! After a year of basically no change in water level, we are now making progress. This picture shows the change in a week of rain since the terracing and diversion pipe installation. I'm guessing about a 3-foot increase on my approx 2-acre pond. Still, a long way to go but at least making headway now. Change is most noticeable on the right side of the images. The image perspective is similar but taken from different vantage points.
I'm still in the same boat as you to. I remember we both finish around the same time last year. It's been a long dry year waiting for them to fill up. Sounds like your starting to get there. I may have to try to improve my watershed as well.
I hope we can both move on to stocking by spring.
How much farther do you have to go, before your full?
I'm guessing a little less than 10 foot to the siphon vent intake, which should be around the full pool level. Looking over the fish list for some fall stocking. Put some fatheads, golden shiners, and papershell crayfish in last year. Probably add some more fatheads, bluegill, and red ears this fall. Trying to decide whether to go the LMB-CC route or YP-HSB-SMB route then next summer. I seem to change my mind at least weekly.
I've got about 12' to go. I put some FHM in back in the spring, and I've thought about putting something in this fall, but I would like a few more feet over water first. I'm thinking of putting LMB and HSB.
Comparing an image from a year ago I think the pond is fuller than I thought. Easy to forget how it started out, glad I've been taking a few pictures along the way.
The terrace and "aqueduct" piping from next draw over are slowly but surely filling the pond.
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Sorry to hear your pond isn't full yet, but I'm glad to hear it's still going up.Lol! How much farther do you have to go? I'm still in the same boat too. I still have about 9' to go. Have you done any stocking yet?
I think pond could be at normal pool this summer if we have a normal spring rainfall. Pond is stocked with items in my signature. Massive screwup when LMB we’re stocked in place of HBG. It will interesting to see what fishery looks like this fall. I’ve had FHM and GSH for a year and the rest since last fall.
Looking forward to seeing my siphon run for the first time, not many around here.... if any.
Hopefully the water will clear up as the grass grows and not so much water basin is exposed to runoff.
I don't think you screwed up putting LMB in.. something will need to work the straight BG over. SMB would probably have trouble controlling the BG so if anything, maybe the BG should have been left out??
Pond continues to fill nicely after adding additional terraces and dry dam from next draw over last fall.
at least dry dam didn't overflow with about a 2" rain Saturday. You can barely see piping from siphon spillway at top of the dam on the main pond in the middle of the picture.
That first pic should be on a calander.
4.25 inches of rain this last week brought my pond right up to full pool, but still no flow out siphon overflow. Has to be just a few inches short.
this dam end of pond, can still see most of yellow cage on vent pipe.
this is inlet end of pond with two coves, so to speak.
closeup of siphon vent
