Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Selecting a site wanting to build a pond

I am just looking for helpful info. I want a pond that will be able to produce a good quantity, and quality of bass and bluegill. My question is how large of a pond would it take to accomplish this. I only have about an acre to work with, but am considering buying additional acres just for the pond. So lets say I have a
3-4 acre pond what kind of results can I get from that acreage. Also If anyone in N. Indiana has some pricing ideas of what that would cost?
I will be selling my bass boat to get this pond, so as you can tell I am very serious about getting a quality pond.
Thanks for any info

no expert here,but i will tell you what i've learned.one acre pond is not going to do much for you.it will be hard to raise bass in one acre pond after 2-3 years,they will eat there food source up.you can work at it and get by with things like watching the harvest of fish and help with feeding the bream.what i've done this time(2nd pond)is build a larger pond,this one is 4 1/2 acres and things seem to be alot better.i think you should be a little north of 2 acres if you want to do it right.good luck.

i forgot to tell you about price,thats a hard one,depends on your market and how the land is laid out,and what are you going to do with the dirt.in my case i spent $65,000.00 building a 4 1/2 acre lake.this is about 14,500.00 per acre.i've seen numbers higher than this and lower.

Bass4Life:

No expert here either. I've heard one contractor state $10,000 per acre as a good general rule of thumb. A lot depends upon the site, how busy the contractor is, required time frame, etc. If you have a large natural valley with a good narrow spot for a dam, it will be cheaper than if have to dig it all out or construct a huge dam. If the dirt for the dam can be obtained very near the dam, it will be cheaper. If the contractor has time available between existing jobs so this would help him keep his staff on / cover their wages, it may be cheaper. If it is fairly close to his base of operations (won't have to haul equipment far) it may be cheaper.

FWIW: I will probably wind up having around $30,000 in mine before it is totally finished. I anticipate that it will be around 12 acres.

I think Lakedoctor builds a lot of ponds/lakes in Indiana. I think he is based in the Greencastle area near Indianapolis. He used to hang out here some and has given me advice on constructing / stocking / etc. mine via three phone calls with the latest in December or so.

I'd recommend that you really read through this site, order some books, videos, etc. Talk you to your local NCRS (conservation) office. Talk to a bunch of contractors. Etc. Do lots of planning in advance and get expert advice if you can.

william,pond cost believe it are not was not too bad,i had several contractors bid as high as 110,000.00.the guy that built my lake bid 55,000.00 to build it,i was afraid he was going to break and run so i paid another 10,000.00.have you ever tried to give away all the dirt that comes out of a 41/2 acre hole.you spread as much as possible and truck off the balance.in my market a truck and driver gets 350.00 per day,and i had alot of trucks in this hole for about 35 days.over here you dont have any low spots you can put a dam in and flood so you have to get rid over all the dirt.i have a friend a church who spent 135,000.00 digging a 9 acre pond,hard to believe the cost just to have a pond.

Our 4 acre lake is built on level farm land so it is all dug out. There are only two things that can be done with the dirt: haul it away or pile it up. We have done both. We started the lake in 2000 and will finish it this spring. We gave away dirt to anyone that would pay to dig and haul it away.

Piling the dirt up also worked well for us. We built three large berms around three sides of the lake. These berms are about 50' wide at the base and 10' wide at the top. One berm is about 600' long, another 350' and the third is about 400'. They block the view and sounds of a busy state highway, a large auto dealership and an Interstate highway.

Another thing we did was to make lots of islands and channels with a tracked backhoe. The backhoe made the channels and piled the dirt up as islands that are about 15-20' high. These are rough islands with native grass and wildflowers on them. This gives us lots of edge for fish and lots of waterfowl and other birds nest on the islands.

All of this allowed us to get the lake dug much cheaper than it would have cost otherwise. Still, it's a lot of money for a hobby.

I would'nt build a bass pond less than 5 acres. I would say 3 acres would have to be a minimum for long term enjoyment. You could have a balanced and productive bass pond that was smaller. However, you can only grow so many big bass/acre year in and year out. You can bass fish a one acre pond 3 times over in a short amount of time. You can save money by adding the dirt you remove to build your dams higher. This will eliminate watershed which would help keep your pond full of water. If you remove 3 feet of dirt and add it to the dam you can quickly have a 6 foot deep pond. If you build the dam higher you will have to have a way to pump water in it. There are lots of choices. Do as much research as you can. There are tons of free info available. Government agencies, universities, and last but not least all of us. Learn all you can and decide for yourself. It's your pond. By the way we can dig a pond for about $2,500/acre. But, we already live in a swamp.

I highly recommend reading the last 6 issues of Pond Boss Magazine. Mike Otto has an excellent pond building article in each issue. For titles see Table of Contents (Index) of each issue in Product Sources at the bottom of this forum main page.
There will be a big difference in pond cost between a pond build from a dammed ravine or a completly dug out pond. Cost will be based on the amount of cubic yards of dirt moved. Get estiments and check several of his referecnes. Look at his work, older and recently built ponds.

I doubt that the price you get for your bass boat will buy very much land AND also build a 3 - 4 acre, well, construced pond. Expect to pay 10K - 13K per acre if the total hole has to be excavated. In N. IN, you want 25% - 35% of the surface area to be 15 to 17 ft deep to minimize winter kill of fish as the pond gets more than 15 yrs old. Lower cost, economy ponds often leak and are big, big, headaches. A well built leak proof pond is well worth the extra money. Give me a smaller water-tight pond any day vs a larger leaking pond.

You will find out over time, that raising large bass is almost as much fun and as challenging as catching them.

One acre is considered by many as the minimum size for a good LMB fishery, but Bass can be easily raised in 1/4 acre. You just cannot raise very many larger bass in 1/4 acre without adding lots of outside food. .