Hello All,
I have a 4 acre levy held pond in the back yard that has very little cover. It has a few cattails in one corner, some hydrilla (I think) an another corner, I dropped 6 Christmas Trees in it a few months ago and other than that is pretty barren. The bottom is thick sticky clay and it does not have much muck on the bottom (which I hear is a good thing). Depths range down to 15' at the deep end. It has some fish! Which is promising (Some Big Perch, Some Big Blue Gill, a couple of bass around 3 pounds and a bunch of small bass 10-15").
Now for the questions...
1. Would it be compatable to make a Beach/Swimming area and still have good bass fishing?
2. I want to make several fishing areas with cover in addition to what I have...should I throw in some lily pads?
3. How do I figure out the composition of my fish population so I can make improvements?
Thank you,
Mickey
Hey Sarge, first off welcome to the forum. I'm not very educated about ponds but more experienced folks will soon chime in.
I have a 1/4 acre pond with a 20' beach and good SMB and HSB fishin. In early spring when the water is too cool to swim the SMB use the beach as spawning ground and your LMB will also. Sounds like they don't need any more spawning areas tho. Biggest problem could be some fish are nibblers that favor moles and nipples.
If you decide on Lily pads, be sure to go with Hybrids or in a few yrs you may have problems with them spreading too far and too fast. Eel grass could be a good substitute if it is available and can survive in your area.
Research everything you plan to do thoroughly.
Good luck and keep us up to date with progress.
On the beach area my advice is save the money and effort and instead put it towards a good swimming/fishing dock with a good ladder to get out of the water.
Others have had good luck with swimming beaches but my experience in my area and conditions is the shallow sloping bank makes a perfect bed for FA to grow in. I ended up after the first year digging it all out with a backhoe to make the water deeper quicker. I did away with what I created in the water portion.
Everyone that swam went to the end of the dock and jumped in. I put steps down into the water so it is easy to get in and out.
That was my experience with a swimming beach area. Even the littlest kids wanted to go in off the dock instead of the shore. With the FA thick no one wanted to wade in.
Your results may vary.
Yeah, I second the dock instead of the beech. I created an area into the pond for a swim area, but never followed all the way thru because the dock was just so much better. The fish use that undeveloped swimming area like Bob-O mentions. You might also consider having a section of the dock removable. Unattach it at times and folks can use it like a barge and float around anywhere and have fun with it. A sand area is fun for kids, but I would keep it above water level and contained with a border.
Hey Mick,
In a 4 acre pond I would say if you can I would get a shock survey done. No real telling for sure what you have in there any other way and even a shock survey wont be 100 percent accurate. Only other way is fish the heck out of it. I see it says your for Arkansas where about if you don't mind me asking..
RC
RC,
I live in Cabot Arkansas near Austin.
Mic
We have enjoyed a floating dock connected to a fixed dock for swimming. While more expensive, we like the ability of our ladder to flip up out of the water when not in use which keeps it free of algae. BG do nibble, but it has never bothered us. Other than sharks, fish are not really a concern for us with regards to swimming:)
Hello all,
Thanks for responding. Thanks for the advice on the lily pads Bob-O. I did put some in, but pulled them out based on your input and then advice from the county extension service. As far as the fish go, best guess is we are ok. I went BG fishing and every third cast I pulled something in. Everything from 3" to 8". BTW I just found out how much fun it is to reel in an 8" BG on super light tackle with light drag...woot woot lots of fun. The majority of the LMB are small so the extension service said to harvest everything smaller than 12 inches. Looks like a fish fry or two is in order in the foreseeable future. The big question looming is still the swimming hole. My wife does not have the ability to use a dock set up due to physical limitations. Walk in? Yes! Jump in and climb out? Not anymore! I think I will have to think long and hard on that one. Anyway, thank you all very much for the input. I really appreciate it!
Mickey
I have a flip in ladder off of a floating dock, and the wife and I can still negotiate it.
My dad had a place down on a bigger lake in southern Missouri. He liked to float every afternoon. We finally installed a stair section that was on hinges, and raised and lowered on a boat winch in and out. That way he Could almost walk out. Used it until he turned 90. Takes a fixed dock, or a pretty substantial floating platform to handle it though.
Welcome to the forum!
You could make a beach. First lay down wide Geotextile fabric, the kind that they put under roads before laying gravel/concrete/asphalt. You can get it in widths of up to 15' I believe.
Then make some sort of a "stop" on top of the geotextile fabric at the deep end of the fabric. Blocks laid end to end, something like that. Then put pea gravel on top of the geotextile fabric, 4"-6" deep. That way whoever is swimming won't be walking on the clay, and you could transition the pea gravel to washed plaster sand when you get out of the water.
You use the fabric so the clay won't migrate up into the gravel/sand. If it did, you'd eventually end up back being a clay bottom. The blocks are there to stop the gravel from migrating to the deepest part of the pond.
On the beach area my advice is save the money and effort and instead put it towards a good swimming/fishing dock with a good ladder to get out of the water.
Others have had good luck with swimming beaches but my experience in my area and conditions is the shallow sloping bank makes a perfect bed for FA to grow in. I ended up after the first year digging it all out with a backhoe to make the water deeper quicker. I did away with what I created in the water portion.
Everyone that swam went to the end of the dock and jumped in. I put steps down into the water so it is easy to get in and out.
That was my experience with a swimming beach area. Even the littlest kids wanted to go in off the dock instead of the shore. With the FA thick no one wanted to wade in.
Your results may vary.
The sand makes a perfect bedding area for CNBG, too. As I found out...
what about building stairs(like SetterGuy) with a hand rail that would enter the water from the dock, pier? Sounds like a good way to go if u plan ahead
what about building stairs(like SetterGuy) with a hand rail that would enter the water from the dock, pier? Sounds like a good way to go if u plan ahead
With stairs, I think they would have to be scrubbed off or something like that to ensure that they aren't slippery if not used frequently.
My dad complained (when your 90 you can) that the rough tread on the stairs hurt his feet. Because they were out of the water almost all the time, we wrapped them with an outdoor carpet. He was happy after that. No slip, mold, or issues at all. We noticed the dock next to us added a set of stairs, after we did. At 62, I'm still on the ladder, but with 200+ pounds of solid muscle
, I tilt the dock a bit climbing out..