Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Creating habitat My journey into the depths of pond ownership

Lots of potential there. Great history too.

Very nice!

Thanks for the pictures

Have not updated this in a while. Figured I should with some photos:

Cypress trees are coming along nicely, the ones that ware not planted to deeply.


pond november 5 2010 002 by jeffreythree1, on Flickr

The pond water level has stabilized and been at nearly the same level for 2 years now. The flooded grasses are gone now and are being replaced with wetland and marsh plants. If I had my flyrod, I could have sight cast to cruising LMB today in these shallows:


pond november 5 2010 003 by jeffreythree1, on Flickr

Main body of the pond today, need to do something about all the water primrose that makes shore fishing tough one of these years:


pond november 5 2010 011 by jeffreythree1, on Flickr

North part of the pond, here is where the stable water level has really shown itself with a defined shoreline starting to develop. Looks better than a bunch of dead terrestrial plants. The tree line on the left is still dieing off from flooding, and i am salvaging some of that for lumber:


pond november 5 2010 013 by jeffreythree1, on Flickr

Here is some salvaged timber from the flooded areas I cut today for my sawmill. Cedar, cedar elm, and a hickory log along with my Logrite Junior fetching arch:


pond november 5 2010 008 by jeffreythree1, on Flickr

The place is shaping up nicely!

Those log arches are nice for keeping the dirt out of the bark when you get them out of the woods. One of these days I'll have one (I'll probably make my own).

Beautiful!

Oh boy, going out to do some clearing around the pond today! After I get off the phone with customer service about my cell not working . I don't like to travel that far in my beater pickup without a cell and toolbox. The stars must have aligned yesterday since the brush saw would finally start again(dang ethanol gas) and my Stihl saw is back in action as a chainsaw instead of portable sawmill, and is now woods ported . Stay tuned for further updates.

Here is the before:


pond january 19 2011 010 by jeffreythree1, on Flickr

and here is after some clearing:


pond january 19 2011 015 by jeffreythree1, on Flickr
There is a section of old dam that sticks out here that we want to turn into a campsite with hopefully a covered deck, but just having it cleared gives us a spot. I only have ~4 hours to work before I need to head home each trip; so one more day ought to knock out the clearing. I need to decide whether to chip the brush or burn it.

Beaver is definitely still there:

Green ash:


pond january 19 2011 011 by jeffreythree1, on Flickr

Willow that I would have had to cut and drag out of the water:


pond january 19 2011 008 by jeffreythree1, on Flickr

And it's home:


pond january 19 2011 006 by jeffreythree1, on Flickr

Apparently we have an algae bloom in progress, the water is a nice shade of green in that last photo.

Hey, Jeffrey, did you know there is a pond behind that tangle of trees and brush? Might be cool to keep on cutting and see if you can get to it - there could be some good fishing!

Nice pics and great looking water - you're right about it looking really healthy. While I would not want a beaver to make his home in my pond, I think, it does look pretty cool to see his lodge on that far bank. Nuisance or not, they're pretty amazing animals.

The traps are set and it is time to wait. Mr. Beaver will not be munching on our trees anymore, hopefully. I want to thank Chris for showing me how to safely set the 330's and his friend for helping with the sticks. The little nuisance raised the full pool level another foot in a month by finally blocking the pipe and pushing mud in the spillway.

It is a continuing job. They are not stupid. Catch one and the others get wary. You most likely will have to move the traps around. Even if you catch all of them more will show up later. Keep after them.

That is something you can always count on the little rascals will be back.
Looked at a pond this morning that was showing the return of the beavers. They had been trapped out once before, thought they where gone. No such luck, at least this time they where discovered before they stopped up the pipe.

I will be checking them in a few days and at least I now have the traps and know what to do with them for future issues. Mowing everything for the first time in over a year as well. It is a pain walking through knee high weeds, even if they are dried up and dead. Hopefully I will have a box blade by then as well to start knocking down the lumps and bumps that make it hard for my wife's wheelchair and scooter to get anywhere.

The beaver is dead, but was nasty so I looped a chain through the spring and attached it to a tree in the woods. The scavengers can clean it for me. I have no idea where the other trap ended up, not anywhere I can tell. Tripped and drug off somewhere maybe? All of the sticks we stuck in the mud to guide the beaver into the trap were gone as well. Hopefully this was the only one or the other trap got a second one since I had nothing to reset. It made 2 more ponds on the creek behind the dam before the trap got it.

Really dead beaver, vultures were just starting to work on it when I drove up:


pond march 4 2011 002 by jeffreythree1, on Flickr

New pond number 1, natural low spot had a little help with a mud pushing beaver.


pond march 4 2011 007 by jeffreythree1, on Flickr

New pond 2, outflow creek dammed by the rascal:


pond march 4 2011 003 by jeffreythree1, on Flickr

It raised the water level so high my shooting lane is waterlogged and the feeder could now be used for fish:


pond march 4 2011 005 by jeffreythree1, on Flickr

I got to play with the tractor finalley and mow the main access areas of the pond and the ~1000 ft of dam top:


pond march 4 2011 001 by jeffreythree1, on Flickr

One of these days I need someone with a mulching head to come in, this is my dam and there is a pond somewhere on the left. The mower at least made it where I can walk the top and a brush cutter to cut access points to the water:


pond march 4 2011 008 by jeffreythree1, on Flickr

But not enough time for the heavy duty box blade I picked up yesterday:


gannon box blade 002 by jeffreythree1, on Flickr

Glad you got one beaver. Watch for new chewed sticks. They can change the landscape as you show. Lot of brush to cut and beaver to deal with. I know the feeling.

The fruits of my labor, enjoying her first trip to the pond yesterday:

Lunch by the pond:

macie 483 by jeffreythree1, on Flickr


"Come on Dad, lets get goin'!"

macie 485 by jeffreythree1, on Flickr


Maybe she will pull me around the pond one day:

macie 491 by jeffreythree1, on Flickr


Only mishaps were she discovered the nice loose dirt of an ant pile is NOT fun to play with and someone stole all of my cheap HF trespassing signs I hung a month ago. Luckily it was cool and they did not get her to bad and I now have a cheap HF laminator to make lots of even cheaper signs. We also measured the state champion nutmeg hickory while we were there and need the forester to come out to confirm. No new beaver sign was evident as we walked around and even found my missing trap. Overall a good day to be at the pond .

Awesome Jeffrey. Congratulations.

Was anything in the trap?

Nothing was in that trap but some pond weeds. Something knocked over all of the sticks we put in to guide a beaver to it and the ones holding it in position, and also knocked it into deeper water. Water was clearer yesterday so I could see it laying on the bottom. First time since buying that I have not had an FA problem in the spring, and I am not that far from george who does . Pretty cool to see lots of LMB in the shallows appearing to be on nests. I am going to leave the pond at the high beaver level until late summer in an effort to give the BG more spawning habitat. They have made it a 5 acre pond up from its usual 3.

Great thread, keep the info. coming...I have alot to learn.

Have not been on the site much lately(or to our pond), and priorities keep getting shuffled. We are now looking for a handicap accessible travel trailer to haul out there so my wife can be comfortable and to contain our daughter while I work. I figure it is the best solution for no access to water and electricity at the pond, and no construction involved since half finished projects seem to have become my specialty. I hope to get out soon to mow and plot out clearing the spillway and overflow pipe the beaver filled with mud.