Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Property Projects & Construction The Dream Chasing is Over !!!!!

Beaux, how will you keep the catfish in the pond that is built on the creek? Does it ever flood?

Dave, this will be a manmade creek. Have not decided if I will flood the creek with my water well from time to time or just let the front bass/bream pond feed it. If I go with the 2nd option I will have to make provisions so that bass and bream don't get downstream to the catfish pond.

Dave, it seems that Beaux has been planning this for quite a while and knows what he wants to get done. I'm going to sit back, enjoy his pictures and postings, and applaud his dance. No need to try to coach Fred Astaire although if I see him about to run out of stage, I'll holler.

Lol Dudley, you're right. I have been thinking about it a long time and I was also fortunate enough to have done a pond already on another property I had, so I learned from some mistakes. That's not to say I still won't make any this go round too. I'm sure I will. Between my first pond and the abundance of knowledge here I'm hoping to keep it very minimal fingers crossed !!!

Haha too funny Dudley but yes, please do

So, about my man made creek and catfish pond :

If i were to feed the creek which feeds the catfish pond with water from the bass bream pond, what would be the best way ?

I am thinking of setting up a drainpipe at the bottom water level, to pull deoxygenated water from the bottom and let it run through the creek bed before it gets to the catfish pond.

Is this a good idea ?

If you don't want LMB or BG going into the Catfish pond, I'd set it up so the water runs from the catfish pond to the other pond. There's the possibility of fry going downstream, or larger fish if there is a significant rain event. No amount of screens/grates will stop it.

On the flip side, if the water is high enough, fish can swim upstream too, but I'd take that chance vs. having the ponds the other way.

That's a good point Esshup. Thought I would kill 2 birds with one stone by pulling bad water off the bottom and supplying the other pond with it but very good point.

I am using aerators for the bass/bream pond anyway, so I shouldn't have much stratification problems... Fingers crossed lol

I'm stuck Offshore and I'm going crazy waiting to get back home so I can get some things going at the property. Gotta get some culverts installed and backfilled so my dirt guys can get their equipment in and get started. Also have to trench and run 2" pipe for the electrical service, C'mon July 15th

I recently had an 18" culvert installed. I went with plastic over galvanized metal. It'll never rust and no UV damage since its covered in dirt. Something to consider.

Warrior, thats exactly what im putting in. I have 60' of it to install. Did you put any gravel under it first or just dirt?

Just dirt. One continuous run of 60'?

Smooth inside, corrugated outside? I made a long run using those. I think that the yellow markings are placed horizontally which orients the little holes in the corrugations to the vertical, probably to retard floatation. Don't forget the gaskets and lubricant. I joined them using two small-link chains with end hooks and a fence post puller. Very easy job.

I remember that offshore food, Beaux. I also remember some girl writing a motivational story about a guy who worked his way up from tool pusher to roustabout. Very funny. Not all writers do their research.

Keep 'er turning to the right!

Lol yea the food is pretty good out here...

I've never out any culverts in but I'm a pretty handy guy ya know. I had been wondering how the joints would go together, if there was a bell end or collar or something. Same stuff I think, it's smooth inside corrugated outside.

Warrior: it's a 60' straight run of pipe. The parish told me I didn't need gravel, just curious if it would have been better for a good foundation. Guess I'll just see what my dirt looks like first

Little update : I'll be coming in from offshore in a couple of days. I finally got my current home sold and will be moving into apartments during my 2 weeks off. Probably wont get to do much at the property this go round. We have been trying to sell this house for over a year. So glad its over, I can start focusing more on the new property.

Should have the culverts on the front property line installed in the next week or 2 and hopefully the dirt crew will show up as well in the next couple weeks.

Culverts are installed... Stakes started going in today for roads and house pads. Monday the earth movers show up to start scraping dirt

Glad things are moving along for you. Looks like pretty flat land. Pond mostly a dug out? Or daming up a ravine. Keep pics coming.

It's always exciting to see a project on the move. Really like that wooded area.

Beautiful property with lots of room for pecan and fruit trees.

Scab resistant pecan cultivars Mandan, Lipan and Lakota cross pollinate well. Zinner is very new and promising.

Owari Satsuma, Washington naval, Orlando tangelo.

Varieties for the south of pear, plum and peach.

This is a perfect time for you to be developing your property, Beaux.

Snrub, the land it very flat. Hopefully things keep moving along. The guys will be back Monday to start scraping some dirt, digging the ponds and building house pads. It will all be dug out. I can't wait for the pond to get done so I can start creating the habitat.

Dudley, thanks for the info on the different types of trees. I plan in planting most if the ones you named. Although I had not thought if planting nut trees, that's a good idea. I can't start planting until my dirt work is done and all the topsoil is out in place though. Darn, I'm so impatient LOL...

We already live the wooded area as well. Me and my boys already had a few mud rides on the 4 wheelers and I've already cleared then a spot to build their clubhouse, got to have one of those ya know.

More pics of progress next week

Bad news today, the NRCS came out yesterday to test my soils. The news I got back today was that I have good clay in the first 2 feet and silty dirt/sand mixture down to 8 feet. He said typically the deeper you go the worse it could get. I'm not buying that 100% yet though. Not what I wanted to hear. We will dig deeper than 8 feet and see what we get. Possibly a lot of clay coming in the near future.

Any ponds in the neighborhood?

Yea there is one. The whole thing is only 3-5 ft deep. It looks like it doesn't hold water very well. It's about half a mile from me.

My pond guy says it possible we can get better dirt deeper. I'm willing to give it a try. It's not like he's keeping my dirt, I'm using all of it to build up the land

Go deep and see what you find. When I renovated my pond, I found a 1' thick vein of clay at 12', then it turned to solid clay at 22' depth. Unfortunately it wasn't enough for me to line the pond.