Hello all,
I've been reading quite a bit over the last year on the site. It's been educational and entertaining. I've got the time in 2015 to start playing around more with my pond project.
Previously, I’ve left it alone and really just paid attention to the property for hunting. I hate to say I haven't even fished it, and I am a fisherman. Man o' man, how time gets away.... You’ve all helped motivate me to do more, and I welcome any thoughts you have on my plan below, as simple as it is…
A short recap, located in Minnesota it's about 11 acres, 40 feet deep, with much over the 15 foot depth. It's got a submerged weed edge at approximately 8ft, with the submerged vegetation pretty thick to that line. It should be great cover for minnows. The land around it is much higher, and the BOW is completely landlocked. No water flow in or out, except for rain run-off from the surrounding hills, and hills do surround it completely. I've posted a video where you can see the vegetation, on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qr-dHZVrjVM&feature=youtu.beObservations of my pond last year for the first time really paying attention to it? Early June snorkeled (yes, it was chilly) in the pond prior to vegetation growth and saw oodles of tiny SF. Clouds of them. Saw a couple small NP. I see a turtle here and there, found a couple of empty turtle shells which I believe are the remains of a snack from a muskrat calling the pond home. Tons of frogs. There is a muskrat house on the pond. I plan to take care of him/them this spring as the ice melts (Unless there’s any value to keep a muskrat around that I’m not thinking of) I saw on a regular basis a loon or two on the pond. I’m guessing they stay for the small SF and the quiet, I see them quite often on the weekends there.
I’ve had a family of wood ducks last year in one of the houses I put up. They were always fun to watch. I will add a couple more houses this year. I get mallards now and then. I have stratified wild rice on order for the spring, so I will add some rice to a shallow end of the pond.
I began seining shiner minnows from a local lake last year. I have been very careful to sein specific fish, and have been transporting them via large cooler to the pond. I do this only on weekends when friends and kids are up to visit. It’s a lot of fun. I hand select every minnow transferred into the cooler to assure they are shiners. At one seining session, I hit lots of 1” perch. I felt I hit the jackpot as ultimately I would like a pond with Perch, BG and WE. I did sein a few 4” walleye and dumped them in as well. I have also dropped in seven 12” WE.
I plan this year to seine shiners more often and continue to stock them. During a session, I can get typically 2 pounds of shiners without too much trouble from a larger lake. I have been debating whether to buy fatheads to stock as well from reading on this site. I’m also thinking of adding crayfish, I don’t believe any exist now.
Plans for this year.
1) Focus of year to stocking minnows.
2) Plant Wild Rice
3) Open up an area through the weeds to create a boat launch. Debating on how to kill the weeds there currently. I have literature form Aquacide.
4) Plant millet for turkeys and ducks near shoreline.
5) Create new food plots for deer.
6) Plant apple trees
7) Planting for raspberry patch
