Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Pond Construction Project Manager

Hi guys, long-time creeper, first (technically second) time poster here. I've always wanted to build a pond and grow big LMB up here in Ontario, Canada and am finally in a position where I can make it happen both finically and career-wise.

Been doing a lot of research over the last couple years and I have a pretty good idea of what I need to do to grow the fish, and what sort of pond I want to build, however I am really struggling to find information as to what I need to look for in a property and potential site. I believe the best approach would be to hire a project manager who has done this before and manage the project right from the get-go.

Are there any Candian based companies or individuals that do this sort of thing, or even someone US based but with experience doing this sort of thing north of the boarder? I searched google and contacted acouple firms but they dont really appear to be very knowledge able and are not really willing to help with site selections.

Thanks in advance

CP

CP, first question is what do you consider a big LMB?

Where in Ontario are you?

thanks esshup and ted for your responses and sorry for the late reply. We are going through a crisis at work and I've been very busy.

I am based out of Ontario, ideally the property would be within a 3 hours drive of Toronto. I plan on stocking only female LMB, along with bluegill, forage fish and tadpoles.

The ideal pond size would be close to 10 acres.

Thanks, CP

Contact a local rural realtor. They should know what is available. However, you need to be able to answer the above questions prior to contacting a realtor.

Southern Ontario, between the lakes, is one of the nicest places I have ever been.

Sorry, looking for an avg size of 6lbs, with a couple +8lbers mixed in. My goal is to grow a 10lder without pellet feeding bass, but I think this is unrealistic. I do have a background in aquaculture and have access to an off-site facility that I am working with to provide 25-50, 4yo large, purpose-grown female LMB to my pond yearly.

I think the Canadian record is 10.4#.

The managed ponds in Texas are growing some very large LMB with supplemental feeding, but I don't think they have approached the 22# U.S. record. (Bob Lusk would probably know how close they are coming.)

Some species of record fish are anomalies. Other species are readily able to reach record size with intense management. (I believe there are multiple people on Pond Boss that have grown and caught state record yellow perch in their private pond.)

Do you have access to some genetically superior-sized Northern LMB? Otherwise, even +8lbers are going to be tough in your cold water.

Northern LMB are also going to be very old by the time they reach that size. I think they will therefore probably be pretty "hook wise". If you grow an 8+ LMB, but can't catch him, does that count?

I don't mean to rain on your parade, but that is going to have to be an extraordinary pond to reach your goals.

Good luck on your project!

As regards picking your property and building a pond, I agree with Dave Davidson that a rural realtor is an excellent starting point.

You can also buy a property with an existing pond that matches your needs. It is quite easy (and inexpensive) to kill all of the fish in an existing pond. You can then start with a blank slate.

Further, whether you buy an existing pond, or build your own, you need to have one that will NOT have any water inputs that will introduce unwanted fish into your pond. You basically need to be able to control all of the watershed upslope from your pond.

Are you going to live at your pond, or commute from your house? If living off of the property, you need to decide your acceptable driving range to your property.

Once you decide on some promising areas, I would highly recommend doing some "satellite scouting". As a generalization, the best place to construct a pond is in the same area where you see lots of other man-made ponds. That doesn't guarantee you will have the right soils, but it is a good start!

What do they feed those purpose-grown female LMB to get them to that size?

A lot of good points here guys. Thanks a ton.

@FishinRod - Finding a pond that suits my needs is actually lot easier said than done up here in ontario. A good friend of mine is a rual realtor and while he's has been a huge help finding properties and researching, he has not been able to find anything that quite fits the bill.

As far as catchability goes, I'm more than happy if my pond produces 1-2 4-6lb fish over 3 hours of fishing. I'm not a numbers guy and don't mind working for my fish. I'll probably save a couple of prime spots that only get fished on special occasions. For me its just as much about growing really big bass as it is catching them. I do want to avoid feeding adult bass pellets.

I'll be living onsite for 8 months of the year, spending winters in the city as this is my busy season, and travel a lot for work during this time. Keeping the property within a 3-4 hour drive of Toronto is important.

@esshup - I have a family member involved with the hatchery/research facility. They grow forage and bass for their own uses. I have access to 4 small ponds that I can use to grow female LMB. they will be fed forage fish, maybe supplemented with pellets if needed but I would really like to avoid this.

CanadianPonder, so you know the cost involved in growing the LMB to the weight you want on live forage vs. pellets. Just because they are eating pellets doesn't mean that they won't eat live bait or artificial lures, it's just more cost effective and easier to grow them on pellets.

Just curious, why do you want to avoid using pellets to grow them?

CP,

If your realtor friend doesn't have any good leads for existing ponds, then it sounds like you are going to have to build it yourself!

Do you have the background to read topo maps? Have your realtor show you the available properties and then look over the topographic maps for that land. You should be able to see the places where you can dam a shallow draw and impound about 10 acres of water after a little practice.

The other necessity is the right soil to make a dam. In the U.S. we have a wonderful product called the Web Soil Survey. Their soil maps are surprisingly accurate. I don't know if there is a Canadian equivalent of that service.


P.S. Is there any advantage to you (tax, or otherwise) to buy a property in the U.S.? My relatives in Orchard Park, NY have a property about 3 hours north of Toronto where they spend most of their summers. U.S. to Canada was no problem for 40 years - except for the Covid rules. I have no idea if you get more bang for your buck in the U.S., but there should be lots of good property available in your radius for within 3 hours of Toronto.

I have looked into NY as well as other areas on the US side, nothing against the US, but I'd rather stick to properties in Canada. Spending 8 months in the US would have me forfeit my health insurance and put me in a complicated situation tax-wise.

I figured that would probably be the case.

Look at the bright side, you have now eliminated a significant amount of land within 3 hours of Toronto from your search!