Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Selecting a site New Pond Build Layout Input

I'm trying to decide which option to go with from the two options below. Looking for some input from anyone that has an opinion. I'll listen to any advice and any changes to the layout as well. Thanks!

Is there a homestead in the picture?

In relation to the road, I like the first one.

There is not a home on this site yet. In the images provided the homestead would be constructed with the back of the house near the clearing near the road.

I should mention that the pond will not be visible from the road. The property is flat near the road and then slopes down starting at the first tree line. The area for the pond is a flat bowl type area.

Hi PJB, if it were me I would remove the smaller tree grouping,but only because I like trees. I would suggest that on the larger tree grouping you had marked, if you keep them, you remove trees back say a 30 to 50ft back from the shoreline for less tree debris in the pond and easier soil,grass,etc. management.

Looks like a great place to build what looks like a great dream pond.
A few questions would be how big is the current pond, how large is the pond you will build? What are your goals for the pond. Are you going to manage the pond or just let nature take it's course? Will it be for mostly swimming and such or for fishing primarily? Will you feed and or aerate? Are you planning on bedding areas and structure or just a smooth bottom with little or no contours?

With the long dam you have drawn, IMHO,I would be real particular in it's construction. A high quality core and quality clay dam would save tons of headaches and additional to prevent a leak rearing it's ugly head. The pond bottom would need quality clay liner in 3 or 4, 3" to 5"lifts each packed and laced into the dam area IMHO. Will assume you have read of the many problems fellow PB'ers have had with small leaks, seeps, large leaks and even worse case dams breached. Bob Lusk's book on "A perfect Pond" would be a good start, if your back ground is not in pond construction and management.

My pond is not visible from the road and I like that, although I have still had uninvited company a couple of times. I have three trees at the shore line and plan on removing two of the three because of limb and leaf debris that drops into the pond.

Since you said your property is flat,and leads to the assumption that the pond will receive little runoff(?), are you planning on a well, or is there an existing well for water level control? Does the area you live in receive lots of rain?

IMO, since you are planning a home as well, limited tree cutting, other than the strip around the pond I was discussing above might warrant waiting until you have everything built and look at it from where you build your house. I say that because it only takes a few minutes to cut down a tree and so long to grow one back you wish you would have kept,IMHO.

Good luck and let us know what you decide to do.

Something I did on my son's refurbished pond with some nice small trees is I took a limb saw and limned them up high so the pond could be seen through the grove. Made a nice area for a picnic site.

The government NRCS agent could give you some good guidance on dam construction and the area of runoff that will enter the pon., Figuring the watershed area could help determine if you will need a well to keep the pond at acceptable levels. Our local agent is a very good and cooperative person with a lot of practical experience. That may vary from area to area and person to person. But it is a government soil conservation service that your tax dollars pay for and is available to you.

That did not answer your question on which plan I liked better. I don't have a definitive preference. Try to envision the view from where you will be spending the most time. For example, picture windows in a house, fishing/boat dock, yard, etc. Trees make a pond look a lot nicer, as long as they are not close enough to cause a water management problem.

Thanks for the response. A couple things to mention about the pond.

I've already worked with the conservation office to determine the size (1 acre) and that there would be enough runoff from the land surrounding the area. We have to build a terrace to direct more runoff into the pond.

The pond will be for fishing purposes so the reason that I'm thinking about keeping trees around the pond is for shade as well as cover. I will be creating/adding structure for cover as I'll be stocking the pond with Bluegill, Large Mouth Bass and Channel Catfish.

I will be managing this pond to ensure the proper properties to grow the biggest bass that I can possibly grow. This included the proper selection of aquatic plants and structure which the conservation office will assist me with.

If that is your goal, you should leave out the CC as they are direct competition with LMB for the forage in the pond.

Tree leaves will accelerate the pond aging process by adding large pieces of organic matter which contain nutrients. Premature and regular pond aging causes numerous water quality problems that usually eventually results in having to rebuild the pond. Fish will not need the shade from the trees. Fish will move deeper for darker and cooler conditions.

For growing large bass, I suggest you explore additional forage species. There is a lot of reading information about growing LMB in the Archives Section. Study it.
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=255372#Post255372

A diverse forage base will help produce larger bass. If you plan to eat any fish consider RES to minimize fish parasites. Numerous members can advise about growing large bass. You should toughly explore HSB as an additional or the main predator. Rethink the CC unless you are a big fan of cleaning and eating CC. Lots to learn on this forum about growing trophy fish. You can grow high quality smallmouth bass in MO ponds.

Acronyms used on the PB Forum:
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=92442#Post92442

Read through this thread of how to build a nice home at the pond location.
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=390172&page=1

The is for the response Bill.

Do you suggest clearing 20-30 feet around the entire waters edge?

I will study the archives thoroughly over the next couple months as the build will start in the Spring. What type of forage fish do you suggest?

I've never heard of hybrid striker bass but will look into the species.

I wasnt aware that MO ponds could support SMB. Don't they need rock beds for reproduction?

How far to set back trees from a pond is a problematic question. My pond edge sits probably a hundred feet south of my house. I have trees on the south side of my house so they are probably 80 feet from the pond. Should not be a problem, right?

Well they are. Not a big problem, but in the fall when the leaves fall and the northwest winds howl here in Kansas, a good portion of the leaves end up stopping their windward journey right in our pond.

So absent sawing every tree within a quarter mile, which is not a desirable alternative, tree leaves causing nutrients being added to a pond is just a problem.

Not the answer you wanted to hear. Maybe you don't have wind that blows towards your pond. That would be very helpful. Outside of living in a treeless prairie, my only input is just keep the tree location in mind with your planning. Further away is better for the pond. But not necessarily for pond and landscape aesthetics. So whatever you do is going to be a compromise. Just try to avoid having them right up next to the pond if possible. Even my half dozen trees 80 feet away from the pond add some nutrients each year.

You're not supposed to have trees right down to the water's edge????



This was built in 1971, and according to records it had a max depth of 16' off the dam when completed. It's stocked with LMB, RES, and BG, and it is not aerated. I can't speak for the first ten years of its existence, but over the last 33 years it has never suffered a fishkill. I was able to ice fish it pretty heavily last winter, thanks to the sheer severity of the season, and discovered the depth off the dam was now 14'.

So it appears that it has lost 2' of depth over 43 years. My feelings are, after another 43 fall seasons, whomever owns it by then can decide if it needs drained and cleaned out. I'm not going to worry about it.

Very picturesque.

Supplemental feed or none? High fish productivity or low? Regular fish harvest or catch and release mostly?

Tis a puzzlement why some ponds have problems where others that look like they surely should and don't.

IMHO, That is a beautiful pond with the fall trees, leaves or not.

That just goes to show different strokes for different folks and it can still work.

Some of the above comments made me think (A scary thought!) if some one wants tress and still does not want as many leaves in the pond as could be had due to high winds and such,a layered approach could be utilized, at least in my mind. Shorter dwarf trees/ tall hedge like Crete Myrtle closer to the shore for some shade if placed and controlled well, then larger trees bushes/hedges and then the bigger trees. The stuff closer and lower to the ground near the pond would catch some, maybe even a lot, of the leaf debris and give some spot shade as designed. A little of both worlds even with high winds the lower bushes/tress could slow down the wind and break it up some in my mind. Just a little thinking out loud.

Snrub, this pond gets fed by hand, once a day as temps permit. I would consider productivity to be average? I'm the only person who fishes it, and I might remove three dozen bluegills a year. Some real good fish in it.