Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Creating habitat New pond

Wow, I'm glad I found this forum! It is full of information; and after reading for a couple of weeks, I guess I'm ready to interact.

I spent a lot of time this past Fall and Winter digging my little pond...haven't measured it, but it might be a 1/4 acre or so. It is around 14' deep at its deepest and the sides are as steep as I dare to go on my tractor. Here's a picture at about a quarter of the way through the digging.



I've got to point out that I dug this pond with a little 30hp Kubota with 4WD, and I'm still working it a little as I get time.

Half full:

But here's a couple of pictures of it now:





Now I have to work on getting that mud settled out of the water!

I bought 100 6-8" Channel Cat, 100 Coppernose Bream, and 300 or so fathead minnows from Tommy's Fish Truck out of Romance Arkansas. $107 for all. It was my first fish purchase, so I guess the price was good. The fish looked very healthy, so I was happy.

So, for structure, so far I have added one large mesquite stump with 4x4" holes cut into it.

And I welded up some steel wheels and old pipe.

I placed these and one more on the slope straight down from the tree that I left in the pond. Eventually, that will be in the center of the pond. Right now I'm working on some floating structure for the minnows to lay eggs under. I'll post more pix as I go along.

Welcome to the Forum, Mobilus, and "Nice Job!"

For a second there, I was afraid you were going to use the Kubota for structure.

Welcome to PB Mobilus. I'll bet you are really enjoying your project.(but dont let anyone else know that...if it is work it takes first priority, if it is fun it takes second) Looks good so far.

Thanks, guys! I do enjoy it, and even though it is physical work, driving that tractor has given me a lot of time to get rid of mental stress. So, no, the Kubota isn't ever going to be structure...well, not on purpose, anyway.

I was digging right up until we got the Spring rains, and if I had known to do so, I'd have placed structure while it was still dry. When I placed the aforementioned structure, I had my dad on the tractor, and he pulled it into the middle with a cable as I guided it into place. It's all around 5-6 foot deep, that sound right?

Welcome Mobilus! The structure sounds good. There are a few current threads on clearing up muddy water - good reading.

What are your objectives for the pond?

Hello Mobilus and welcome to pond boss. Wow and your first four posts contain photos! Bravo! I see you're into classic cars as well, there are several of us motorheads on the forum (I'm currently between car obsessions and this moment).

Nice job on the pond. It's always fun to see the pictures of it being built, and even better to see it full of water. Did if fill up quickly?

On your fish. I think that you are a little light on bluegill and minnows. I'm no expert, so I'm just mentioning it, but I think you need allot more feeder fish so they can have time to reproduce before being eaten up by the predators. The cats will eat both, but the bluegill will only eat the minnows.

Of course, if you feed them floating catfish food every day, that would take allot of the pressure off of the minnows until they get a chance to spawn a few times.

Eddie

esshup, I am adding grass clippings starting today...I'm not sure how many is enough or too much. I'm going to try this before adding alum. I will take a water sample in to our hot tub store for analysis...after $7800 they'd better test it for free!

I want to mimic what I remember as a kid at my grandfather's place...a pond that is interesting for kids, comfortable for adults to be around. Maybe some fishing with the grandkids.

Jeff, my Nova has been on jackstands in the shop for a year and a half...but I swear I'll get back to working on it as soon as I have time (haha, been saying that for the past year). I'm remodeling a 1986 Bayliner Capri 1950 bowrider right now. Sometimes, I think I'm ADD...

Eddie, the pond filled up within about three good rains this Spring. Of course, North Texas is beautiful this year. We've had good rain at well spaced intervals.

I jave been feeding about half a coffee can of floating feed every day or two. I don't think they're trained yet, but I have been feeding around the same time (early evening) when I do. Someimes they eat, sometimes it's washed up on the shoreline the next moring.

I'll take your advice on the minnows...next time I hear of a fish truck coming to town, I'll buy again. How many do you recommend?

Thanks for your positive words. Wife isn't as excited about it as I am, but I think that'll change when the water clears and I get some vegetation in and around the pond.

Where are you in North Central Texas?

I don't really know how many minnows you need number wise. When I stocked my 3/4 acre pond, I put in 3 pounds of fathead minnows. They were all very small, but how many make a pound is a mystery to me.

With just a slightly smaller pond then mine, I'd guess that you would want 300 to 400 to start.

It did take awhile for my fish to figure out the food. I had forgotten that they ignored it at first, but reading your post reminded me of seeing the same thing happen. I just kept at it and after awhile, they started eating it. By the beginning of Fall, I had some cats that were well over a pound.

Good luck,
Eddie

Dave, I'm just a little ways out of Wichita Falls, on the southeast side, in Arrowhead Ranch Estates. The best part is that we're in Clay county...and about four miles from Lake Arrowhead.

Eddie, according to the chart that ewest posted, the pound of FHM that I bought had about 300 in it. There were also a few crawfish in the mix.

I'll keep on adding structure and working on reducing the mudiness of the water, oh, and feeding them as well. Oh, do I know you from a tractor forum?

ewest, thanks for posting the chart!

More pix in my next post...I built and launched a small 2x3" floating island.

I read an article recently about a man in Mexico that built his own island using plastic bottles in nets. And I have seen a few floating islands built by folks on this forum using foam noodles and such.

Here's what I came up with:

I took stainless steel wire and wired a bunch of bottles together, usually starting with a larger bottle in the center and securing smaller soda bottles around it. Then I tied them together and adding filler bottles where needed, followed by a squirt of Great Stuff expanding foam in the gaps between...

This made for a very stable mass. I cut out the bottoms of several bottles and took the caps off or drilled holes in them.

I planted Louisiana Bog Iris in three or four holes, and FrogFruit in seven or eight. I also planted a couple with wort, but I think it was in too rough a shape to survive. Then I piled our rather clayish topsoil on top of it (maybe 50 pounds) and used it to anchor the landscaping cloth around the sides.

this is a horribly blurry picture, but you'll get the idea.

Also taking from someone's idea here on PondBoss, I drilled holes through 1/2" PVC pipe and added a bunch of weedeater twine. This was installed on the anchor cable. It should float right up under the bottles.

Again sorry for the blurred picture. I'll go out today and get a picture of it in the pond...we got a nice rain last night, it'll be intersting to see how it survived.

That's pretty ingenious! It looks like it should work pretty good.

Hey Mobilus, that's a great idea for an island, especially the way you put in plants.
A&E's have very creative mind's, that safety wire sure comes in handy don't it.

Really Cool Island. Welcome to the forum.

Thanks again!

Adirondack pond, there's not a lot a crew chief can't do with safety wire!

Here's a couple of photos of it floating in the pond. When the plants mature, they will lay over the sides and cover the island and its sides. If necessary, I can open a few bottle and let some water in, making it ride lower in the water.

adirondack pond, I had a National Guard student come through my class a few years ago; Matthew Harger was his name - a great guy. He was an environmental conservation officer (game warden) for the state of New York, and I think he was stationed in your neck of the woods...don't remember his address.

I know it is a long shot, but do you know him?

The name doesn't sound familiar, but I probably wouldn't know him unless he arrested me,(he's not the one who stopped me for speeding on a snowmobile years ago) I'll ask my wife she's the town clerk and she knows the local encon officers.

Mobilus
Welcome to the forum.
You are doing a great job.
This is the first time I ever heard that Lake Arrowhead is beautiful.
Has the spring rains got the lake full.

Thanks!



It is standing pretty good right now - a lot better than the other area lakes. Kickapoo is only at about 40%, as I'm told. Wichita is, well, Wichita...too shallow for boating and constantly plagued with fish kills. It is more like a cesspool, in my opinion.

Arrowhead is like a woman, sometimes clean and pretty, sometimes ugly and dirty...but loved by those that care about her through it all. If you don't boat it (there are some neat coves), or if you're there after it gets all muddy (from low levels or torrential inflow), I can understand why some people don't think too high of it. It is, however, only four miles from my home, so we experience it at every phase.

The crappie fishing has been great these last few Springs. The Sand Bass are tearing it up right now. And I know people who go for the big old catfish, some of which are in the 40# range. The state park seems to be a lot busier this year; I guess more people are staying closer to home for their camping outings.

My catfish are eating better now. They are cleaning up a half of a coffee can of feed now. I threw out a second half and they didn't even bother it...so I'll just feed 1/2 can now and try increasing it later. Doesn't seem like much for 100 CC 6-8" long.