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Jan 10th, 2023
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Joined: May 2009
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I'm in the process of constructing my 1 acre trout pond. This pond will be for some fishing and some recreation. I've been considering shaping one side of the pond to have an immediate drop off of approximately 4-6 feet for swimming, viewing the trout, etc. (I recognize the need to provide some means of exit for anyone falling in).
My contractor has been discussing various options for doing a "retaining wall" type structure for this bank. One option considered is to use some pre-cast concrete blocks that our local concrete company makes out of waste concrete. These blocks are 2' tall by 3' wide by 6' long. They are reasonably affordable. THey have notches in them to make them stackable and short "handles" letting me move them with my tractor. I could also use some rock to make an attractive cap for them.
The question--what kind of footing (if any) do you think would be required to hold a stack of three of these things? I've been told they would likely collapse without a footing. This largely negates the do-it-yourself aspect of this. Alternatively, if I have to have a footing poured, I'm thinking maybe I should just pour the entire wall. Anyone have any experience with pouring an actual retaining wall that will be submerged? I only want about a 40-60' stretch of this dropoff.
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Joined: Aug 2002
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Hall of Fame  Lunker
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Hall of Fame Lunker
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I'm in the process of constructing my 1 acre trout pond. This pond will be for some fishing and some recreation. I've been considering shaping one side of the pond to have an immediate drop off of approximately 4-6 feet for swimming, viewing the trout, etc. (I recognize the need to provide some means of exit for anyone falling in).
My contractor has been discussing various options for doing a "retaining wall" type structure for this bank. One option considered is to use some pre-cast concrete blocks that our local concrete company makes out of waste concrete. These blocks are 2' tall by 3' wide by 6' long. They are reasonably affordable. THey have notches in them to make them stackable and short "handles" letting me move them with my tractor. I could also use some rock to make an attractive cap for them.
The question--what kind of footing (if any) do you think would be required to hold a stack of three of these things? I've been told they would likely collapse without a footing. This largely negates the do-it-yourself aspect of this. Alternatively, if I have to have a footing poured, I'm thinking maybe I should just pour the entire wall. Anyone have any experience with pouring an actual retaining wall that will be submerged? I only want about a 40-60' stretch of this dropoff. What about not making the wall straight up and down but with a slight slope so the blocks lean into the bank? It would seem that would negate them from collapsing? Sorry no actual experience with this. How are you going to keep a 1 acre pond cool enough for trout? Do you have more than 400 gpm of flow from a spring or something? My 1/10th acre pond just stays cool enough with 45 gpms of flow. My guess is you would need at 10 times that to get the same cooling, but I could be wrong. Isn't water cool enough for trout is going to be quite frigid for swimming? I know it would be for me! I can't even swim in water under 80 F. 
Last edited by Cecil Baird1; 08/27/09 09:04 PM.
If pigs could fly bacon would be harder to come by and there would be a lot of damaged trees.
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Joined: May 2009
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Yes, Cecil, I've got a large spring. The exact gpm varies, but my limited tests put it at 400-2000 gpm. I obviously can't test final temperatures yet, but I'm hopeful it will be sufficient. If not, I think I'll switch over to some HSB.
As for the temparature, you must consider the difference between adults and children. This will be FAR too cold for me to swim in it. However, my boys (ages 8 and 12) have a considerably different idea about what is acceptable from a temperature standpoint (albeit, likely with a variety of flotation devices, etc.).
On a sidenote, I'm hoping to be at the conference and hope to hear a bit more about how you grow those mammoth trout I keep seeing in the pictures.
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Ambassador Field Correspondent Hall of Fame Lunker
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David, please post some pictures! Your property is absolutely stunning. I will say my daughters have spoken of it and your offer of a float trip often since visiting! Everyone here will LOVE suggesting ways to spend your budget 10-20 times over! Construction photos are ALWAYS great! Glad to hear you decided to come to the Conference too!   Cecil, TheMoMule took me and two of my daughters for a tour of his pond/lake sites being considered. He has a large year-round Spring that is well aerated and can support the trout. I would love to describe his property's features, but that is his privelege. Perhaps Mr. Lusk or especially Mike Otto can spare a couple of hours touring the Mule's place, I can assure you a quality multi-issue article is available there. Davids place is about an hour away from Big Cedar Lodge. PS
Tell Bob it was my sales pitch that made you decide to attend the Conference!
Last edited by Rainman; 08/26/09 10:22 PM. Reason: more bed speelin
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Joined: May 2009
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Certainly enjoyed the Rainman and his wonderful daughters. Earth is being moved this week. I'm hopeful of posting some pictures of the entire process soon. This week I discovered a number of large rocks/boulders buried near my pond site (YEAH!) that are going to make some great underwater structure (or cover, or whatever you call interesting eye-candy in the pond). Now if I could get this pond bank thing worked out . . . .
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Yes, Cecil, I've got a large spring. The exact gpm varies, but my limited tests put it at 400-2000 gpm. I obviously can't test final temperatures yet, but I'm hopeful it will be sufficient. If not, I think I'll switch over to some HSB.
As for the temparature, you must consider the difference between adults and children. This will be FAR too cold for me to swim in it. However, my boys (ages 8 and 12) have a considerably different idea about what is acceptable from a temperature standpoint (albeit, likely with a variety of flotation devices, etc.). Wow Mo that is great! You're blessed to have something like that and I'm sure you'll enjoy it. Sounds like you have the flow you need. On a sidenote, I'm hoping to be at the conference and hope to hear a bit more about how you grow those mammoth trout I keep seeing in the pictures. If you get your trout from a disease free source*, feed them, and have the correct water parameters it's a no brainer. Just be glad you won't have to pump well water like me. It gets expensive. * Can't stress that too much. Once you bring in a disease or parasite it's hard to get rid of it.
Last edited by Cecil Baird1; 08/27/09 09:40 AM.
If pigs could fly bacon would be harder to come by and there would be a lot of damaged trees.
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Joined: May 2004
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Moderator Lunker
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 13,974 Likes: 277 |
This week I discovered a number of large rocks/boulders buried near my pond site (YEAH!) that are going to make some great underwater structure (or cover, or whatever you call interesting eye-candy in the pond). Good for you! I wish almost all of the boulders we found digging my ponds were in them as structure. They would be pretty snag-proof compared to some of the things I've used instead.
"Live like you'll die tomorrow, but manage your grass like you'll live forever." -S. M. Stirling ![[Linked Image from i.pinimg.com]](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/ed/b5/e7/edb5e7f935843b996cf52be593c9ebd2--smoothie-smooth-collie.jpg)
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Joined: Jan 2005
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I do not think you need to worry about a footer, With a 3ft wide foot print you want need it if you can as mentioned stair step them slightly toward the bank or even offset each one back by one foot and the entire wall will be a stair case that you climb out of.
 The road goes on forever and the party nevers end...............................................
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Joined: Aug 2002
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Hall of Fame Lunker
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Hall of Fame Lunker
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 20,043 Likes: 1 |
This week I discovered a number of large rocks/boulders buried near my pond site (YEAH!) that are going to make some great underwater structure (or cover, or whatever you call interesting eye-candy in the pond). Good for you! I wish almost all of the boulders we found digging my ponds were in them as structure. They would be pretty snag-proof compared to some of the things I've used instead. I've got two really huge ones in the bottom of one of my ponds you can have the next time I drain the pond. The hard part would be getting them out of the pond!  I would prefer they not be there for smoother seining.
If pigs could fly bacon would be harder to come by and there would be a lot of damaged trees.
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