Our ice fishing season is probably over, and Wednesday was over 50, so I decided to fire up the well and top off my BRES reproduction cell. Hoping upon my return today we'll have a pond of open water - site for sore eyes. Thought I'd share some photos - felt good to get out and get muddy again.

This three way spigot is in front of my former SMB reproduction cell. It's designed to keep my three ponds topped off. To the left is my new SMB reproduction cell, in front will be my new f YP and m BG pond, and to the right is my BRES reproduction cell. It was my first effort piecing together PVC, valves, etc. - so far it's holding up nicely.



I bought 300' of 2" discharge hose [with the guidance of Scott - thanks!] so I can fill up the BRES pond independently of the YP/BG pond. Normally I'd just fill up the YP/BG pond and and allow the agridrain to spill over and fill the BRES pond. But, I'm keeping the BG/YP pond dry to excavate some additional depth this Spring, so I needed a way to fill and bypass that pond, thus the discharge hose.



I use every bit of 300'.



I fit a 10' stick of 1.5" PVC in the end of the hose, then slide a 30' section of PVC tile over the now rigid hose to prevent the hose from squirting out and to break up the well water and hopefully oxygenate it. Nothing scientific, just using materials on hand.



Was great to see the beginning of a little open water! Hopefully she's topped off this afternoon and 100% open.







This is as exciting as it gets for me this time of the year.

Sad to see the ice go, but getting new projects underway is good news!

Looks good TJ!

It's in the upper 30's here, and they are calling for rain/sleet later on this afternoon. Right now it's sunny out.

TJ:

Do you have a way to drain the water out of the PVC pipe and valves?

Cold = ice = expansion = possible cracking of PVC

Yes, it naturally slopes down to drain water and I keep ball valves open all Winter to prevent freezing. Never had an issue yet, but I have plenty of 1.5" PVC, ball valves, 90 angles, primer and glue just in case.

That's a good idea TJ. looks like it will work well.

55 degrees and sunny here right now...hoping to fish open water this weekend.

Hate to ask, but how much did that much hose cost you?

300' of 2" flat discharge hose was $150 - cheapest I could find. It's the thinnest material they sell, I didn't think I'd need to use it often provided I get my BG/YP pond excavated soon, so I went for the cheapest route possible.

Wow, that's really a heckuva deal.

**********************WINTER DOLDRUM UPDATE*******************

Returned to ponds to review my groundbreaking irrigation experiments, and was excited beyond belief to find my hypothesis proven: ice melting and pond levels raising. Eureka! Collectively you are the FIRST people globally to witness these photos. Enjoy!

BEFORE



AFTER

That open water is a sight for sore eyes!

TJ:

When you are done with the hose, roll it up and store it out of the sunlight. It'll last for years and years. Sunlight will break down the cheap stuff in a couple of years. Where it's folded, it'll start to crack.

Ahhhhh........

Good call Scott...dang, I am bored.

I'm in the office getting ready for the busy season. Gotta rebuild a Gast 1023 later today, but other than that this chair is my home.

I saw a home made thing on a TV show that helped roll up the hose. It seemed like it was a piece of larger PVC pipe with a slit in it. They took off the side of the stand, slid the hose in the slit, put the side of the stand back on and cranked the handle, rolling up the hose. Once the hose was rolled up, they took off the side, slid the hose off of the PVC pipe, and repeated the process. Hard to explain - a picture would be great. I'll look for one.

A qucick search didn't come up with anything DIY.

And being black accelerates the sun damage as well. I've used a variety of different colored zip ties and the black ones always give way before any other color.

We have open water all winter with the circulator running. With 18 inches of ice there are still 4-6 weeks of ice fishing on tap.

Living in tweaner-land has got to be tough, mentally.

After I typed that I thought, "oh yeah, TJ........

Still no ice on my pond.

Bring an insulated truck or trailer. Bring an ice saw, or two. Bring a few ice hooks.

Actually, if I dig, I'm sure I have some of each in the barn.

I'll give you all the ice you want. I cut a lot of "cakes" in my youth, and packed tons and tons of cakes in sawdust-packed ice houses that kept the ice well into the next ice season.

Man TJ that's some beautiful clear H20

No need for that. I'm trying to keep the ice off my pond with the black die I put in in fall. I also run water from my well through that exact same pipe with the theory the ridges will aerate the water. Haven't ran no water in while. We got three inches of rain last and now the water is a brownish black.

Well water will do that for you!