I am going to build a 3/8 of an acre pond in Muskogee, OK and I am concerned that I am going to hit rock pretty shallow. My question is what is the minimum depth that the pond should be for that size to support Largemouth Bass. I do plan on installing a fountain. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

READ! LOTS! Read the posts on this board. Get Bob Lusk's books. Learn a lot before digging and you will NOT be sorry. It also save you a lot of money to do it right the first time.

As long as the pond is deep enough to hold water continually that is of sufficient depth to maintain temperature and living conditions, your fish will be OK. What really matters is forage base, fertility, temperature... As said above, read.

A fountain is not as good as a bottom aerator. THe fountain sprays water into the air, and aerates only the top layer of water. A bottom aerator stirs the entire pond, allowing more life in the lower stagnant layers.

READ!

Jack - Chose a reputable builder, ask around. US Soil & Water Conserrvation Service often has a list of pond builders in your area. Check with them. Cheapest very seldom builds the most water tight pond. Get the contractor that you have chosen to build the pond to get to your site and dig two or three test holes to determine soil depths/profiles and soil consistancy (clay content). This info will help you plan on the design of the pond's basin. ie if the pond will be a completely dug out type or one that's partially dug and with built-up dykes or embankments around the parimetrer (for extra depth). I'm assuming you do not have a valley that will receive a dam.

Hi Jack, I have a 1/3 of an acre pond in Northern Alabama. It is 8 Ft deep at the deepest point and I have a fountain fed from my well pump spraying about 20 ft in the air to get some air in it before it hits the water and to maintain a ice free hole in the winter. It is on a cycle due to a slow well and runs for about 2 minutes and then off for about 6 minutes. Has worked out great to keep the pond topped off. During the summer I also run a 1/4 hp gast compressor 24/7 feeding 35 ft of soaker hose as a diffuser. You can see construction views on my website. Good luck and have fun.

Bob

Jack-we have 2 lakes and about 9 ponds just on the Texas side of the Red River. I would have one big caution for you from our experience. I think in our area of the woods and the hot dry summers we go through I don't think 8 ft will be deep enough with out a well to keep you wet in most of the hot summers. We originally had new tanks that we dug 12-14 feet deep and a good number of them over the first 3 or 4 years would go bone dry. There are a lot of factors that can contribute to this problem besides the hot summers but the combination of these will have you very frustrated if you see fish not having any water to swim in. We have since dug all of our new and old ponds to depths of no shallower than 14 feet and most are at least 16 feet deep. We find that on most summers we will lose at least 6 feet depth and have lost as much as 12-14 feet on newer tanks in bad summers. We have dug wells on at least 2 locations that helps at least 4 of the tanks. Our normal rainfall is like 32-35" and I think yours would probably be similar. Bob Lusk could sure help you out on telling you whether my minimum depth guess is right. It may not be cost feasible to get deeper than the rock but I know it sure is frustrating to see a tank go dry and know that you just wasted $$$ and at least a year in building the place you want. Good Luck.

Wow, we had a bad drought this year and I was pretty disappointed with losing 2 feet of water... I can't imagine losing 6-12. Certainly sounds like the more water you can hold in that area the better chance you have of retaining some of it come summer-time.

I should correct myself on losing 12 feet. That was over a dry 12 month period on one less than perfect tank dam. Our lesson was to make sure and have a 14 foot depth minimum(our comfort level) or have a well feeding into the tank that insured us of getting through a very difficult drought. The other problem I didn't mention that we had was on the lakes that did not go dry but had little water we were getting murdered by the herons and other fish eating birds that were feasting on the fish. It actually worked well on one of our lakes that was over-populated.

Hi Jack,

Do you have any neighbors that have a pond? If so, thats one good source for information.

Russ