Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Pond is silting up

Hi All,

I purchased a property a few years ago that has a man made pond that's approximately 1 acre in size. It's fed by a small brook as well as at least one spring. I don't know for sure but neighbors tell me it's about fifteen feet deep. An earthen burm or dam makes up one side of the pond through which a six inch PVC drain pipe is run. Water drains through the pipe during spring, summer and fall and perhaps winter too.

There were attempts to stock the pond with trout but apparently those attempts failed. Word has it someone or something removed the trout from the pond. Since I've owned the property on one occasion I encountered a river otter swimming in the pond. There are many schools of small minnow like fish swimming around. It's also a favorite spot for Moose and water fowl. During summer months green and brown algae grows on and just below the surface.

In general my sense is that the pond needs some care but I'm not sure what should be done and how. One thing that concerns me is what appears to be silting that's taking place where the brook empties into the pond. Is this a serious problem and is there anything that can be done to mitigate the accumulation of silt in this area?

I was also considering hiring an excavator to dredge around the perimeter of the pond. Does this make sense?

Hi Keegs, just wanted to welcome you to our site. Most of our experts are either in bed or out on the town. They'll give you some solid answers later this eve or tomorrow for sure.
If it were my pond, I would find someone with a shock boat and let them show you what is in the pond. Hopefully someone on here will have a name for you.
It looks very nice, and probably won't be that hard to get you up and on your way to pondmiesterhood. Oh, one more thing, kill the otter...

keegs welcome to the forum, nice looking pond.
What would you like to have in your pond, and are there any other uses you want from it?
If your getting silting from the stream maybe you could have an excavator divert it and then pipe in water from it so you don't get the silt, then maybe have him dig out around the perimeter.
If otters are a problem you could put a low electric fence around it, I had otters coming up my stream and over to my pond, but 2 years ago I put in an electric fence and haven't seen one since.
Also an aerator can help improve the water quality and help reduce algae problems, this assuming you have power to the pond.
Before stocking you could get a fish trap and try to find out exactly whats in the pond, then decide what type of fish you would like.

That is a nice looking piece of property! Perhaps a catch basin upstream from the lake would help with the siltation problem. You could dig a pit to let it settle out in and have a bed of rocks for the stream to run over into the pond, which would help some with aeration too, I think. What is the stream like and as far as fish have you fished the pond yet? I was led to believe the ponds I have access to were barren of fish but there are populations in both.

You can do an informal depth survey if you don't have a boat. Take a slip bobber and tie on a weight that is heavy enough to sink the bobber. Cast to different areas of the pond, adjusting the slip knot so the bobber just barely floats. That's your depth.

Agreed with what was said. Before you start on the pond, sit down and list your goals. We'll have a clearer direction on suggestions then.

Catmandoo (Ken) has had good success digging a smaller silt settling pond for the stream to run into before the stream hits the main pond. The smaller pond gets cleaned out when needed to keep the silt from entering the bigger pond.

Depending on your altitude and pond depth, you should be able to keep trout for at least part of the year. That's a nice looking place!

Thanks for the feedback gents.

I've been considering the silt settling pond. I'm going to see if it's possible. The brook runs through a small stand of large spruce trees to the right of the pond (from the point of view in the picture). This area of trees is wet with a few small depressions where the brook water already pools. I'm not sure if it's possible to dig a larger settling pond without removing some of the large trees/tree roots. I was also thinking about placing some hay bales in the brook to capture/filter some of the silt.

As far as plans for the pond, I'd like to try to stock it but I'm not sure how well that's going to work out. There's a stream that boarders my property, perhaps 1000' or so from the pond and it's likely where the otter that I saw came from. And I'm sure where there's one there's more. The electric fence may work but I also need to consider our dog.

There's a fish hatchery about an hour away that sells native brook and brown trout of various sizes. I was also considering catching some fish elsewhere and stocking that way. I'd like to get something going with crayfish too. I have no idea where to get crayfish stock. One other consideration is that the state has restrictions on what you can legally introduce into a private pond.

A neighbor suggested creating hiding places for the fish...some old bed springs perhaps or maybe dropping in some culvert pipe or some rocks, or hollow logs. This makes sense and sounds easy enough to do. I understand that fast swimming fish (e.g. trout)may stand a better chance of evading predators.

I suppose it's possible that there's larger fish in the pond already but I would think that by now I would have seen signs e.g. fish jumping, coming to the surface etc. We've owned the place since 2006 and I haven't seen anything swimming around other than some frogs, that otter and those minnows.

I was also considering putting in a dock and a swimming platform out in the middle. The water looks pretty clear and deep in places.

I understand that certain vegetation, e.g. cattails and pond lily etc. help to keep the water clean. I introduced some pond lilies (tubers) a few years ago and I think they've begun to established themselves. There's some cattails around the shore line as well.

If it's not possible to dig a settling pond out, maybe you could add a series of weirs on the stream?

http://www.stormwatercenter.net/Assorted%20Fact%20Sheets/Restoration/grade_control.htm

The log design would probably be best for holding back siltation. One problem could be this allowing the water to become stagnant and warm more than you'd like for trout, that probably depends on how much well canopied the stream is and what the flow rate is. These probably wouldn't work if it's prone to intense flooding, either.

Stocking fish from other bodies of water has been done and can work but a hatchery is more dependable and is an easier way to get exactly what you want. You can also introduce unwanted elements to your pond through transfering from multiple bodies of water. What other options do you have if trout won't work out? What would you like to see the fishery develop into and the pond as a whole?

There's a good thread in the archives on structure and cover for fish.

Depending on the species of lily, it could become a problem (growing fast and covering a LOT of the pond surface) in a short amount of time. If that happens, they are a bear to remove. Spatterdock and White Water Lily are two of the more common offenders. Cattails are another plant that tends to overgrow it's boundaries relatively quickly. I've seen ponds where cattails have cut off any access from shore to the pond, making a ring around the pond from shore to a couple feet of water.

Thanks vaheelsfan for that link...I think the log drops might help to keep back some of the silt..that solution appears to involve less digging. Perhaps annual maintenance to keep the pool clean and the bed from widening would be in order.

I don't know yet the source of this water. The neighbor seems to think it's spring fed. There's another wet wooded area to one side at the head of the drive where surface water pools. The grade slopes to this area from two directions so my sense is that runoff is involved. About mid-way up the driveway a culvert pipe (approx 24") takes the water under the drive then a swale takes the water down through this stand of large spruce trees and into the pond. I don't know the flow rate but I'm pretty sure there's flow throughout the summer months. I've been building a small house just a few hundred feet from the pond. Until last year the pond was my primary water source for mixing concrete, outhouse flushes, clean ups etc..so I had an opportunity to become familiar with it.

The area around our property is agricultural, medium size farms ...potato and wheat rotations. Our property was formerly a potato farm. Timothy was planted on about 50 acres about 10 years ago and this is harvested annually by a local beef operation.

Since this is a man-made pond, my primary interest is in understanding what system are involved and whether it's possible to stabilize/balance those systems. Toward that end, keeping the pond looking good, functional and recreational would be cheese on the pizza.

keegs the reason I mentioned diverting the stream is that whatever lives in the stream will be in your pond, if that's ok then small blocking dams will help reduce siltation, but if you don't want that, by diverting the stream you could siphon pipe water to the pond and put a filter box at the inlet to eliminate unwanted species.
If your looking for crayfish a minnow trap in the stream might get you more, that's how I get the ones for my pond.
If you put an electric fence around the pond it only needs to be a foot high and your dog would soon learn to avoid it, my nephews 2 labs don't touch it anymore, they just jump over it.

Simple structure for your pond could be small weighted evergreen trees.

Electric fence

Thanks AP. Nice pond. Your water looks clear. I saved your photo and zoomed in on what looks to me to be the siphon pipe you mentioned in the background. Is that right?

That appears to me to be like a solution the state used here in NJ to capture storm sewer /street runoff before it enters a nearby lake.. a large burried cement catch basin with a series of overflow chambers inside to catch debris..etc.

I'm curious why you mentioned trying to keep things living in the brook out of the pond. Is there a concern about this?

The electric fence looks like it will do the job. It's good that the dogs can still enjoy the pond.

You mentioned you use a minnow trap to catch crayfish? I'm wondering whether it may be better to set a trap in the stream that runs out back rather than the brook???

Back in the day we used to camp along the Sacandaga river and hike the Northville Placid trail. That state park is fantastic.

Yeah I had three 1 1/4" flexible pipes running 300ft. back up above a waterfall for a siphon gravity feed, 2 years ago I ran a pipe using 2" schedule 40 electrical pipe, works great and delivers 60 GPM.

You mentioned N.J., is that where your originally from?

Depending on what your goals are for fish in your pond there might be something in the brook like green sunfish that you don't want.( Some pond owners love GSF )

The larger stream might have more crayfish but it depends, they like muddy areas and it's well worth having a minnow trap and even making a larger fish trap that you can use in the pond and stream. The stream that I use to supply water only has pumpkinseeds, crayfish, and brook trout which are already in the pond so I don't bother to filter the water.

It's funny you mention the NP trail, We live just outside Northville near the boat launch on the Sacandaga river, but my pond and cabin are 95 miles NW near Big Moose Lake.


Here's an easy to make fish trap using plastic fencing from Lowes, zip ties can hold it together and a wood or metal craft hoop to shape the opening for the door.

Sorry AP ..I was getting ahead of myself there.

Went back and re-read your previous posts and understand better now your recommendation. Diverting the brook and creating a pool from which I could siphon off the water makes allot of sense as it relates to managing silt. My guess is you've got a pool forming above the fall from which to draw water??? You'd just need to know what flow was necessary to keep the water level in the pond constant. In my case it may mean shutting down the exit flow...not sure.

The fish trap looks like a home run. It would make doing an inventory of what's in the pond allot easier. I didn't know what all the bits were inside the trap as it appears in the photo so I did some checking around and found a few DIY instructions. Looks easy.

I don't have power to the pond but I suppose it wouldn't be too hard to do...maybe when we do the pond side tiki..

Our year round residence is in NJ. We've been vacationing in ME for many years and so decided to buy a place there about five years ago. Maybe we'll retire there some day.

At this point I'd just like to try to keep the pond healthy and stable. Maybe do some fishing now and then and some swimming on hot summer days.



It's been a while but I think I remember the lake being right there in Northville. Gorgeous area.

You've got a real long distance pond place, that makes it alot harder to control things, maybe for now it would be easier to put log dams in the brook to reduce silting.
If you decide to put predators in like trout, small mouth bass, or yellow perch it would really help start your forage base by putting in some adult golden shiners and some structure to help their offspring survive.
With otters around if you don't have a way to control them stocking some pumpkinseeds would give them another fish to eat and maybe the trout or your other top predators would survive being wiped out.
Every pond is different and it can be fun to experiment with different things to see what works.


Yeah Northville is at the north end of the Great Sacandaga lake where the Sacandaga river flows in. Our place at Big Moose will be our retirement home.

I grew up in Iselin N.J. by the garden state parkway, and have lots of relatives in the state.

Something to keep otters away

It's about 11 hours to our place. It's a chore driving that distance but it's like traveling to a different world. i.e. Islin to Northville .. If it were only up to me I'd be more committed to the idea of living there full time at some point. We both grew up in cities.

That stand of trees I mentioned earlier needs thinning. There's a few dead trees in there and a few that have blown over. Maybe if there's time this summer (still have lots to do on the house up there) I'll get on it. A local retired logger who has some excavating equipment has been helping me with some other jobs around the farm. I've already spoken to him about sprucing up the area around the pond.

So inventory to see what's there, decide what's practical to stock then experiment to create the systems to support it all. Take stock locally either from a local hatchery or from nearby ponds, lakes and streams. Don't get too carried away with intoducing vegitation and keep what's already there trimmed back and in check.

It makes sense.

Scott, I have a plug in electric fence charger but I've heard that those solar powered ones work pretty well but make sure it's one that has a decent size battery.

keegs that's a long haul to Maine, maybe it's time to get a Cessna.
If you thin some of those evergreen trees the tops would make good cover in the pond.
You probably don't have alot of time to work on things there cause of the distance, but starting with adding structure and maybe stocking GSH would be a good start while you decide what additional fish species you would like.
Keep us updated and we always like photo's.