I've been reading Pond Boss for several years (hand-me-down copies from a friend), and visiting the web site for several months in anticipation of one day owning some water of my own. It happened on July 1, when we closed on a 45 acre property near Honey Grove in NE Texas (in Fannin County, about halfway between Bonham and Paris). While the property itself is not too large, it does include a 12-acre lake entirely within my fenceline. The property was mentioned in a posting - Selecting a Site - on May 9th, and needless to say, that helped speed up the decision process. The lake is 34 years old, and has depths of up to 25 feet. There is a lot of sunken timber, creekbeds, and shallow flats. Also, a lot of trees that have fallen into the lake, creating some nice structure. An electroshock survey conducted in June showed pH of 6.5, alkalinity of 60ppm, and hardness of 40ppm. I'm still in the process of figuring out what all of this means, but my consultant told me that everything falls within acceptable ranges. Visibility is 12 inches. There is a lack of forage fish, and an overabundance of small bass. We'll be working on removing several hundred small bass, and stocking a large number of bluegill, perhaps in September. We're also going to add some fathead minnows and golden shiners as supplemental feed until the bluegill take hold, as there only appears to be bugs and other bass on the current menu. Needless to say, I'm really excited about the possibilities. I'm also thrilled to have a place in the country to take my three daughters, ages 9,7,5. In fact, the property has already paid for itself -- I watched my five year old catch her first fish last week! It was a fiesty green sunfish, and she followed it up with two small bass! Anyhow, I just wanted to introduce myself to the group. I enjoy reading all of the posts, and I look forward to asking many questions, and perhaps offering a few answers or suggestions, in the coming years. Also, please let me know your thoughts on the lake study results I mentioned above -- I always trust the crafty veterans (speaking of, I had the opportunity to meet Dave Davidson and his Padner (Trevor) this past weekend when he was kind enough to sell me an old canoe -- great guys!). I'll try to post some pics of the lake. Thanks.
Dan: Welcome and glad you're here. Sounds like you've got a great place for some "Sell my clothes, I'm going to Heaven!" moments in the upcoming years. I look forward to hearing about them.
Fishman Dan,
It is great to have you onboard. Speaking as one of those crusty veterans, I can say without doubt that I look forward to your posts and expect to learn from them.
You might want to check that canoe you bought for leaks...you see, Dave doesn't have any water, he just talks about it.
Thanks guys. Any thoughts on how to post pictures?
Nothing like a bass heavy pond for those 3 young beauty contest winners to learn to fish on.
Dan,
I live in Plano and "our ponds" are located about half way between Paris and Sulphur Springs.
If I can be of assistance in any way - give me a holler.
Sounds like you have everything pretty well under control.
Congratulations.
George Glazener
ps: It should come to no surprise to anyone on this board, that I strongly recommend that you look sriously at stocking minimum size 8-10 inch HSB (Hybrid Striped Bass)
Fishman,
I absolutely agree with George and encourage you to read all you can on here and elsewhere about HSB and about LMB...sometimes, for reasons we have debated contentiously and still don't understand, LMB are not all they are cracked up to be.
Now you have thinking about HSB. I am already bass heavy, forage seems ok. I might give it try this fall.
Hey Fishin Dan, what a great lookin spot. I hope you know how lucky you are. Finding 45 acres, with a 12 1/2 acre pond all within your fenceline and being 1 1/2 hour from Dallas is almost unbelievable. I used to fish a lake at Tigertown that looks alot like your spot. If you need some bluegill and redears go to lake Crockett and catch some mature ones. Only negative I see is the water is a little cloudy, was this pic taken after a good rain?
Great looking tank. How in the world did ya get one with no algae, weeds, grass.....! Is this what it looked like before purchase? Congrats and nice pics.
Dan, good for you, every man deserves his own POND/LAKE ! The pics are great, pay attention to the HSB comments, they are awesome fish. I'm another Dallas area resident that frequents this board, good luck my friend...and get busy trimming those ugly water turkey trees and culling the Green Sunfish !
Thanks to everyone for the kind words. To answer a couple of questions: These pics were taken the day after a large storm blew through, so the water was a little cloudy. Unfortunately, I think that was about 7 weeks ago and was the last time it rained in Honey Grove. The former owner also used the lake as a watering hole for his cattle, and I think they had been cooling off shortly before the photos were taken. The water is much clearer now -- about 12-14 inches visibility. The lake is fed by runoff from several hundred acres of surrounding cropland. The former owner had the foresite to make it deep -- it was over 30 feet at the dam when he built it. Regarding the lack of weeds and growth around the lake, I'm sure a lot of it can be attributed to the cattle. I'm sure it's just a matter of time now that they're gone. Finally, I'm going to do some serious research on the HSB -- you guys have peaked my interest. I'll keep you updated...
Man the things you could stock with something that big....
Nice place!
