We're digging our first pond on our future home site of 15 ac. So far we've cleared about 1.5ac of woods to dig a 1 ac pond. I've read Basic Pond Mgmt and Perfect Pond, Want One....I still have ?? Many of the pictures in the books and the pics that I've found on this forum are of construction with dry soil. Excavating shelves, drop offs, etc look fantastic, but we started digging today and already have water.

The excavaters went 8' down and already there's foot of water with clay substrate...this is good, but I can't put the topography in the lake that I wanted b/c it's a sloppy mess and I don't think pumping it is feasible.

So my question for the pros is....With a 1 ac oval shaped pond what contours would you put in..The long shore line is currently dropping to 8-10 ft rapidly. Do I need to try and incorporate shelves for spawning or will this create weed problems. What do I do?? How would you contour this pond in the sloppy clay?

Is the water coming from springs or just the current water table?

trapsht, Why don't you think pumping is feasible? I have the same question as Dave, springs or ground water or surface run-off? I renovated my pond, and had to dig in ground water. You'd be suprised how much water a 15,000 gph pump can move! I used one for doing my pond, and it helped me to be able to see to dig and not dig in the water.

I guess I don't know if it's from a spring or water table...I don't think pumping is feasible b/c there's no place to pump the water to. I don't want to flood my yard.

How important is it to have steep drop offs, shelves, etc? Can I refine these later after the initial shape is made? Is my assumption correct that you don't want the bottom completely flat with steep sides?? Or will this be ok if I add structure? I have many root balls, deadfalls, and PVC trees waiting. THanks a lot!!

A contoured bottom is nice, but if you can't do it, you can get the same results with placing cover in the pond. How big is this pond going to be?

Steep sides are not all that desirable. Most have a 3 to 1 slope. Shallow water is needed for safety and spawning.

Thank you!!! The pond will be about 1 acre. I was under the impression that you don't want much shallow water in order to deter weed growth. Should I plan out some sort of a shallow water landing for spawning....If so, what depth?

Not all ponds are alike, but I've seen the most of the spawning activity in my pond on the South and West sides. In my pond, the BG seem to want to spawn in 18" or less of water, and LMB in 2'-3' water depths.

I PERSONALLY wouldn't try to build spawning areas. They will find their own and you will have some soils wash in.

OK, that said, I love shelves, humps, underwater ditches and just about anything else that will hold or attract fish.

Steep sides can be dangerous. Think about a kid falling in and not being able to get out. Or a cow, or you, or...

What is your fish schedule??

trapsht,
I am in the same situation right now, i overstocked my 2 acre pond b/f finding pond boss so im doubling the size of it to fix the problem. At 5 or 6 feet we have water starting to seep through, it will add approx. 1 foot of water overnight. What im doing is digging various deep sections which will hold the majority of water. Doing it this way makes for a ton of structure, cliffs, craters, ledges and deep spots. I'm digging in pure clay, so the shape stays for the most part, a little will wash over time but you will always have something different for the fish. Just my solution, may not work for everyone. It looks like I have several sections in the bottom of my pond with levees seperating them, but it allows me to work with dry dirt at the same time. Slope it to the deep spots so the water will drain to it.