Hey guys. Been following pond boss for about two years now and just getting onto the forum. Live in Iron Mountain MI and have been working on my new property for the last few years. Dug a nice 1 acre pond last winter. Good portion of it is 11’ deep with shallow areas along the edge. I buried a good amount of cedar trees in the deep areas after it was dug out. I have large mouth, small mouth, bluegill, pumpkinseeds, and perch in there, although I have never seen the perch yet. I have a few springs that feed he pond with clean “hard” water. Chara is establishing after the first summer along with a few other plants I cannot identify already. I will be asking a lot of questions I’m sure so thank you all in advance. I will also be digging/building a second pond about 3 acres just down stream from last years pond. I am addicted. Not sure if these pictures will work or not.
[img]https://www.flickr.com/photos/183688147@N05/48594881906/sizes/l/[/img]
[img]https://www.flickr.com/photos/183688147@N05/48594900791/in/dateposted-public/[/img]

Aerial View

Before BOW filled

Welcome to the forum!
Good to see another northerner in the ranks.
Sounds like you did a great job putting things in order!
In this area the pre-dominant invasive weeds that look like Chara is actually Eurasian watermilfoil.

Thank you for getting those pictures loaded up for me! Not sure what is the best way to upload pictures in a forum setting. The waterfall looks far less dramatic in that picture! That waterfall will feed the second pond that I am building this winter.

Being in northern UP try to get the next pond deeper toward the 18ft to 20ft depth as MSU extension suggests to minimize chances of winter kill as the pond ages past the 8-10 yr mark or earlier depending on the amount of tree leaf input. In your climate deeper smaller pond is better than the expense of a larger pond. UP winters can be brutal including lake affect snow fall.

Love those Yoopers!

Bill, Thanks I will have to check out the MSU Extension for some information but I think that is a very vague description on their part. I live in the southern UP and we call it the banana belt down here. we do no get any lake effect down here. I run an aerator and have fresh water flushing the pond 24/7. When I figure out how to upload pictures I will post some pictures of my weeds. Journey Man, I agree it looks like mill foil but the "leaves" are not the same. I cannot fins a picture of it anywhere online.