Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Renovating a Pond or Lake? POND RENOVATION AND BOTTOM STRUCTURE

I have been learning a great deal reading a variety of posts since last fall. I live within the city limits of Atlanta. I own a 1 1/2 acre residential property that has a pond which is slightly less than a 1/4 acre. I plan to drain the pond and deepen it to approximately 9 feet with a slope of 1' drop for every 2' lateral. As you can imagine living in a city I have been required to get a full survey, with permits from the city, state and Army Corps. Now I am working on a building permit and hauling permit. In the end it is estimated that we will be removing and hauling away about 600 cu yds. The costs I won't even get into but I am afraid it is going to eye watering.

Now for my question. I plan to stock the pond with bass and blue gills. At this point the plan does not include a shallow area for spawning. I plan to add artificial structure but am concerned about where the fish will spawn. Any advice and suggestions would be very much appreciated.

Wil
Welcome to the party—this is one of the best places on the planet. It sounds like you did your homework. Some of the time it takes longer to get permission to do a job than to actually do the work.
As far a place for fish to spawn: I hope you will get a lot of info as the day goes on. But I have heard the big boys say Mother Nature will take care of that. Kind of like newlyweds just because they are not in the perfect spot does not mean they will not get there JOB done.

Hey Wil! Welome to PB
Like Otto said "The desire to procreate is strong with this one."
Would it be nice to have a shallow, sun drenched and wind sheltered area for your fish to spawn? Yes. Does the absence of this stop the fish from spawning? No. I lease a 50 acre pond in upstate sc where 8' is about as shallow as it gets! Those LMB are having an absolute orgy as we speak!! they're just doing it deeper. (surface water temp-70 yesterday!)
The upside to deeper spawning is that your fish will have a buffer against spring cold fronts and falling water levels. We had an overnight low of 34f and I'm sure those fish couldn't care less. There is another pond that I fish a few miles down the road with lots of shallow bedding area and I'm equally convinced those fish are a little nervous right now. The most heartbreaking scenario is when right in mid-spawn the water drops 3-4 ft and every bed (fry-eggs) is left high and dry!! Good Luck! and again welcome.

I remember a news story that stated that the bass in Toledo Bend Reservoir had "roosted" and spawned in the forks of sunken trees. Seems that a drought had taken away most of the shallow areas.