Hey guys! I am new to this site and as stated, from Louisiana. I have been going over a lot of the info here and it is absolutely overwhelming! Great site with so much information. I'm glad to jump in here and get my feet wet.

I am going to have a pond built this summer. It looks like it will be a minimum of 1 acre, possibly close to 2 if I can get it. I will preface this thread with the fact that I own other land that has a 1 acre pond on it. I have done a poor job of managing it, as I fished some and didn't take out much. We all know what that leads to.

My goal for this new pond behind my house is to have a place to hang out, catch a few bream and bass (mainly my 2 kids), eat a few from time to time, maybe give some to the neighbors from time to time as well.

I do want to make sure that I do it "right" from the pond bottom up. I have read so much on here that I have almost looped all the way back around into no idea what to do again, LOL!

The dirt is going to be red clay, acidic soil, piney woods kind of stuff. The builder says probably 10-12 feet deep.

Any suggestions, do's and don'ts, things that work and don't work, anything is much appreciated! I'm talking about construction to begin with and stocking after that. Gravel/sand, ditches, depth changes, fish structure and fish cover (see, I have been reading), aeration, fertilization, PH management, drainage, etc.

Thanks so much in advance for the advice. Ponds are GREAT!

John

John,
Welcome to Pond Boss. Tons of of good info and helpful folks here. Sounds like you got a pretty good plan going. How big is your watershed? What parish you in? I was raised in Calcasieu, but moved to SE Texas years ago. Post some pics when you get started. Good luck!

Welcome
It will be so much fun that you will loose sleep worrying about your babies and what's going on with them and what is eating them..... Misery loves company so welcome!

Welcome John from Deep East Texas. We are so deep east Texas we can smell the mudbugs cookin and speaking a little Cajun!! Our 2 acre pond is only a little over a year old. We could not have done it (right) without this forum. Ask lots of questions and subscribe to Pond Boss Magazine. You'll be glad you did. Good luck and most of all HAVE FUN.

Agree,

Good thing you found pond boss before you started. Even though my pond is some what unconventional I would have benefited a lot in regards to developing a stronger forage base from the get go had I found pond boss sooner and asked more questions.

Mr John, another hardy welcome to the forum. All above statements are accurate. Especially note what Pat says about "have fun". You WILL make mistakes but from what you have conveyed you have done some good research and will surely dodge some bullets. You seem to be a reasonable and common sense type of guy. Therefore we may not get along. I like ta stir the muck. However I have learned tons from this site and am not shy about givin suggestions whether or not that it is good.
OK, here we go!
First and most important to me is that if I could, I would much rather have a couple or a few small ponds than one larger one. Cecil and others have repeatedly shown what incredible fish can be coaxed from a very small bow. I might want to go a bit deeper, maybe 13-15'. Then when ya aerate (which is surely necessary with your warm climate)it will enable you to have more useable water. Also a pond will always want to fill in with dirt and plant debris. Your kids and grandkids will enjoy a deeper bow for more yrs.
Now, fish choice. HSB are GREAT! Put and take as ya choose. Hard fightin and fast growing. I know most folks have been raised to think LMB, BG and CC are the perfect pond. I was criticized harshly for havin a YP, HSB, SMB, RE and WE pond but now all my buddies want to come to my place ta fish rather than go on a charter on the Great lakes. Just something ta consider, nothing at all wrong with LMB, BG and CC. Be sure to get a strong population of forage going before ya put in the predators. Probably be tough ta get BNM or SFS but if ya can, they are soo much better than FH. Papershell crawdads are very good, especially if ya go with Smallies and YP. Actually they are good cause they eat weeds/algea.
Build a nice wide pier, 6' wide if possible. There is never enough room on a pier. A T pier is very nice.
Structure and spawning areas are important, especially for the minnows and shiners. Plenty of info on those two things that I don't need ta re-hash, you've probably already read all that but may want to change your plans if ya decide ta change your stocking.
Do please take and post pics and keep us all updated as to your progress, we're all junkies.
Don't be afraid ta ask ?s that ya might think are a little dumb.
Best wishes to ya and am sure you will do fine. Bob-O

Thanks for all the responses! SO much to process when the canvas has not been colored yet.

So far I'm getting: Make a nice dock/pier, make sure forage is SOLID, make structure and spawning areas, consider your stocking types very carefully, have fun.

OK, dumb questions are on the way. (I'm not sure with abbreviations yet, so y'all hang with me.)

1) How well do Fathead minnows do in regards to a forage? How many would you stock per acre to make sure your good to go from the start? I know there are recommended stocking rates according to salesmen. I'm wanting to know from pond OWNERS.

2) How important is PH control/fertilization for your forage base?

3) Would sand, pea gravel, heavier rocks be best for spawning areas and how much of that should I plan on covering the pond bottom with?

We'll start with those.

I think I did 30# FHM for 3 acres. The initial stocking of FHM is not the forage, but the ones that will produce tens or hundreds of thousands of FHM. They only live about 18 months, but reproduce in large numbers absent predators.

Here is a recent thread on spawning beds that might be helpful.

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=438456#Post438456

Welcome to PBForum.

Welcome to PBF!

I agree with Snrub on the initial stocking numbers on Fathead Minnows (FHM). Keep in mind though, in most cases, the FHM are stocked as easy initial forage for your newly stocked predators. They will disappear from most ponds unless you keep stocking them. Bob O has some good advice, in my opinion (IMO), of stocking more robust forage as well that can sustain a population in the pond. Bluntnose minnows (BNM) and spotfin shiners (SFS) could be good choices for your pond (not sure for Louisiana). There are others depending on what you want for predators in your pond.

Here is a link to the forum acronyms that you might find useful.

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=92442#Post92442

Welcome 'finally' to the site. Good to see another Louisianaian join the pond discussion. Advice is to keep reading and asking questions.

We have recently finished excavating our 1 surface acre pond. We applied lots of things in the excavation process that we learned from this web site.
We are currently adding fish structure and finishing up on the bulkhead

For a custom pond you will need to plan, figure, measure, plan, ask questions, run the numbers, change your mind, draw pictures of what you want, plan, measure, doubt your doing it right, seek advise, plan some more and finally reach a point where you say, 'awh heck just do it.' Then when your custom pond excavation is complete, you will step back and think dang that wasn't so bad why did I wait so long.


Stickem what side of the Cal river were you raised?

JDM,
The east side...Lake Charles. You sound like you might be familiar with that part of the world...what about you?

Raised on the West side and now reside on the East side

That was great!

John
welcome from another Louisiana resident, my pond is across the line in Texas, but give a call out if you want to bounce around some things.
Ponds are way more than a place to fish

Tracy

John, welcome to PB. Pine tree country can be a little challenging re water quality. Your alkalinity may be a little low and you might have to fertilize. However, to get the fertilizer to "work", you might need to lime first. I would do a soil test and send the results to TAMU.

Finally, my pond is in Mississippi but I live in the 'burbs of New Orleans. Sounds like your acidic red clay soil is like my pond. You'll need to get some ag lime spread in the pond before you let it fill in. Get some samples of dirt and send to the La. extension service; you can get the pre-addressed boxes with instructions from any extension site. My expectation is that they'll suggest 3 tons/acre of ag lime if your soil is as acidic as mine. Before the pond fills, this will be the best/easiest time to get it spread out along the pond bottom assuming your pond bottom is firm enough to allow a spreader truck to get in there. You will need to take water samples every year to check the alkalinity of the water and adjust (with lime, of course) if too low (<20). It will be difficult and/or expensive to distribute with the pond full, however. For this reason, I'd suggest adding extra on the initial spread as you really can't "over" lime IMO.

I was kind of thinking it would be a good way to get it evenly spread and much simpler if the truck could just drive down there and spread it before it fills in. Thanks for the tip. I can guarantee the soil will be acidic. I will check with the extension office for sure. Thanks!

Welcome to PB posting. Glad to have you aboard.

Much good info above and in the archives (frequently ask questions).

Given your general location will you have ground water intrusion (possible saltwater)? That could be an issue if deep in the coastal plain.

FH may or may not be necessary depending on your goals. FH are a good idea and will be helpful in most situations like LMB/BG ponds. Here is a link to a location specific resource but use it for general info not specific questions. Ask away !

http://www.lsuagcenter.com/NR/rdonlyres/...3FarmPonds2.pdf

Thanks for the link!

I don't believe that I will have any issues with saltwater intrusion. I'm quite far north in LA. Much closer to Arkansas. Groundwater, I'm not sure about. May well get some of that.