Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations bad news, pond got too dry

I am bummed. Went to check on pond and thought those august storms would have kept me ok but the pond was reduced to a 10 ft circle of water. I drove up and there were white birds eatin fish. I cast netted and got one big mud cat and several baby bg, dead bg around perimeter water getting too warm. No bass were netted in several throws, all gone, prob to cyotes. Now the rain comes but the damage is done. until i revamp the whole things I have a mudcat pond and no more fish will be stocked. Is there anything i can treat the soil with to seal it more or something i can do? Maybe we need to raise dam or dig deeper or both? any advice would be appreciated. Thanks

Deeper is really the only thing you can do from what I've learned here. It hopefully gives you the buffer you need to weather the bad times, no pun intended.

Sorry to hear about it though.

Once the sting is gone, start looking at it as Mother Nature's chance to let you rework the pond.

I don't know how you would go about this, but I would try and make sure that all the bullheads and other trash fish are gone. I've heard they can live in the mud for some time, but I have no real idea.

Man, Keith, I am really sorry to hear that. I've lost plenty of fish, and I can remember being pretty bummed...but with each failure came a new resolve to do things right, and better. I would definitely call Otto to discuss potential options.

wow keith, condolences from el dorado, but as others said this is also an opportunity for you. i am not far behind, we are in a terrible drought, more so than the normal dry season. my pond is down 8 ft and being reduced to a puddle. i still have about 7 feet of depth and my guys are hangin in there but not by much.

Sorry about the loss. I know the feeling about fish loss. I once killed a whole load of BG before I even paid for them.

Been thru the same thing. Plus the aerator tubing got a hole in it due to vibration. My FIL said, after the fact,"the fish were acting crazy'. Deeper average depth; the only way to go.

Sorry to hear this Keith. I hope you can use this as a starting point for an even better pond.

Sorry to hear the bad news Keith. Watching a pond shrink is a very disheartening event. DIED and I go through it on a major scale every year (and it's been very bad for the past two drought years). My pond is spring fed so I generally average about a 1 foot less loss than DIED, still my pond is down about 7 verticle feet. It feels like you're dying a slow death when you're watching a pond shrink.

Dig deep that would be my advice as well. Seems like in our neck of the woods you can't have a pond too deep.

Sorry for your trouble Keith. I guess having to start fresh can be a blessing as well as a curse, so it isn't all bad.

yeah, I'll make it:) We'll raise the damn and dig it out some, not sure when. Atleast we have a big creek with fish so thats where I'll be fishin, huck fin style. The deep pools still had some water and with the impending rain the fishing should be good. Thanks for the kind words