Help me plan (daydream) - 07/27/09 05:08 PM
I'm in the process of figuring out exactly what I want out of my pond before I begin construction. i.e., I'm daydreaming.
I thought I'd use this thread to sort of think out loud about what I'd like to do. Please excuse the lack of organization. I'm just kind of rambling on with whatever ideas pop into my head as I narrow down exactly what I want to do. I'd love it if all of you would jump in with any comments, ideas, or advice. I'm just in the planning stages now, so any ideas are welcome!
The pond will be on the same 25 acres of a mostly cleared meadow that our house sits on. I'm shooting for a 3-5 acre pond, depending on what the land layout and watershed dictate.
My main goal for the pond is fishing for both food and fun for both adults and kids. I'd like to grow some good sized BG and LMB, possibly some CC as well if they won't adversely affect my other goals for the pond. I'd like to be able to take young impatient kids out there and have them catching at least some small fish pretty quickly and easily. I'd also like some big ones to provide fun for adults.
I'd like enough fish in there that I can catch dinner for our family of four 1 or 2 times a week, and do the occasional large fish fry for a big group of friends and family without worrying about depleting the fish population.
I'd like the fish population to be as self-sustaining as possible so that if a zombie apocalypse ever closes down Wal-mart I can use the pond to feed my family.
A secondary goal is swimming. I'd like to keep the water as clear and clean as possible, and free from scum and too much vegetation. I'd love to have good swimming areas for both kids and adults. For the kids I'd like to have a "beach" area with gravel that gradually slopes into the water so that kids of various ages can wade at various depths without walking through mud. I'd like to somehow keep this shallow wading area free of algae and other plants. I'd also use this gravel wade-in area to launch kayaks and paddle boats.
For adult swimming I'd like to have a good sized area that's deep enough for jumping in and for large groups to float around and swim, and possibly for big inflatable swim toys like water platforms, trampolines, and slides. I really liked the natural rock steps and diving boards from the "Family Farm" thread and would love to build features like this into the pond. As a matter of fact, I think I'd be perfectly happy duplicating that exact pond, minus the house! Here are some pictures from that thread of some of the features I'd like to have:
Gravel wading beach: http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff73/skrehbiel/farm/4Picture036.jpg
Rock jumping platform: http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff73/skrehbiel/farm/5Picture083.jpg
Island with rock steps leading up and rock jumping board sticking out: http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff73/skrehbiel/farm/5Island.jpg
Awesome work on that project Scott. It's a real inspiration!
I'd also like to build a nice sized dock for sitting and for fishing. I'm thinking of having half of it covered for shade, and half uncovered for fishing and sunning. I'm picturing things like a porch swing, table and chairs, maybe a chiminea on the dock.
Now, some potential problems that I've already come up with:
The combined use for swimming and fishing. For optimal fishing, I need lots of structure in the pond at various depths. For safe swimming, I need areas clear of structure. It would also probably be good to keep the inevitable lost lures, hooks and lines away from places where people will be swimming.
The solution I can see is to designate certain areas for fishing and others for swimming. As for the dock, I'd love to be able to both fish and swim from it. I'm wondering if two separate docks would be the solution -- a Swimming/Relaxing dock and a fishing dock. A separate fishing dock would also allow me to build in a fish cleaning station, which my wife wouldn't tolerate next to her porch swing on the Relaxing dock!
Another solution might be to do two smaller separate ponds, one for swimming and one for fishing. I'm not as keen on this idea though because I like the idea of looking out my window to see one big continuous body of water.
Now that I've rambled on for a while, feel free to ramble on with your own thoughts or advice!
I thought I'd use this thread to sort of think out loud about what I'd like to do. Please excuse the lack of organization. I'm just kind of rambling on with whatever ideas pop into my head as I narrow down exactly what I want to do. I'd love it if all of you would jump in with any comments, ideas, or advice. I'm just in the planning stages now, so any ideas are welcome!
The pond will be on the same 25 acres of a mostly cleared meadow that our house sits on. I'm shooting for a 3-5 acre pond, depending on what the land layout and watershed dictate.
My main goal for the pond is fishing for both food and fun for both adults and kids. I'd like to grow some good sized BG and LMB, possibly some CC as well if they won't adversely affect my other goals for the pond. I'd like to be able to take young impatient kids out there and have them catching at least some small fish pretty quickly and easily. I'd also like some big ones to provide fun for adults.
I'd like enough fish in there that I can catch dinner for our family of four 1 or 2 times a week, and do the occasional large fish fry for a big group of friends and family without worrying about depleting the fish population.
I'd like the fish population to be as self-sustaining as possible so that if a zombie apocalypse ever closes down Wal-mart I can use the pond to feed my family.
A secondary goal is swimming. I'd like to keep the water as clear and clean as possible, and free from scum and too much vegetation. I'd love to have good swimming areas for both kids and adults. For the kids I'd like to have a "beach" area with gravel that gradually slopes into the water so that kids of various ages can wade at various depths without walking through mud. I'd like to somehow keep this shallow wading area free of algae and other plants. I'd also use this gravel wade-in area to launch kayaks and paddle boats.
For adult swimming I'd like to have a good sized area that's deep enough for jumping in and for large groups to float around and swim, and possibly for big inflatable swim toys like water platforms, trampolines, and slides. I really liked the natural rock steps and diving boards from the "Family Farm" thread and would love to build features like this into the pond. As a matter of fact, I think I'd be perfectly happy duplicating that exact pond, minus the house! Here are some pictures from that thread of some of the features I'd like to have:
Gravel wading beach: http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff73/skrehbiel/farm/4Picture036.jpg
Rock jumping platform: http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff73/skrehbiel/farm/5Picture083.jpg
Island with rock steps leading up and rock jumping board sticking out: http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff73/skrehbiel/farm/5Island.jpg
Awesome work on that project Scott. It's a real inspiration!
I'd also like to build a nice sized dock for sitting and for fishing. I'm thinking of having half of it covered for shade, and half uncovered for fishing and sunning. I'm picturing things like a porch swing, table and chairs, maybe a chiminea on the dock.
Now, some potential problems that I've already come up with:
The combined use for swimming and fishing. For optimal fishing, I need lots of structure in the pond at various depths. For safe swimming, I need areas clear of structure. It would also probably be good to keep the inevitable lost lures, hooks and lines away from places where people will be swimming.
The solution I can see is to designate certain areas for fishing and others for swimming. As for the dock, I'd love to be able to both fish and swim from it. I'm wondering if two separate docks would be the solution -- a Swimming/Relaxing dock and a fishing dock. A separate fishing dock would also allow me to build in a fish cleaning station, which my wife wouldn't tolerate next to her porch swing on the Relaxing dock!
Another solution might be to do two smaller separate ponds, one for swimming and one for fishing. I'm not as keen on this idea though because I like the idea of looking out my window to see one big continuous body of water.
Now that I've rambled on for a while, feel free to ramble on with your own thoughts or advice!