Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Creating habitat 6 acre HDPE lined bass lake starting over TN

Thanks again for the feedback Esshup, my guess is 6-10 over 10 pounds. I purchased a gopro, and will video the drain down and refill, spending most footage on history and what we discover in the final puddle, will be informative and entertaining....JJ

Here's a pic of the lake record LMB caught by Duane Daugherty in Feb. of 2015 with Big Hammer swim bait; 12.3 pounds, hoping this girl can spawn out some future state record candidates....she was one of 400 stocked as F1 fingerling in spring of 2007 by Southeastern Pond Management....

Why drain the lake ?

Renovation is possible without that.

now catching 10 crappie to 1 bass, to rid the lake of crappie, carp, and gizzards, will keep the best bluegill and bass, and enhance attractors....JJ

I would do it... 10+lbers would be a shame to waste....and you have 1000's of fish in many stages for food..
I would just be worried about what will feed your baitfish.. Do you already have a feeding program for them?

Wow...if you went fishing and you got a bite....you know you would have a huge smile on your face! haha

I have 2 Sweeney auto feeders 2X daily with Purina Gamefish Chow, tilapia stocked every spring, add goldens and fathead minnows most years, will probably keep some 3"gizzards for the big girls to munch on as well. I can't wait until I get down to the final puddle, hopefully first or second week in December, will be some very interesting video....

Hope you have a whole bunch of your buddies standing by with fillet knives!

I may have looked past it, but you stated carp are in the pond as well. What species are they ?

Wild ones from the flood and white amur, but don't need them at all....

Tilapia can manage the minimal amount of algae that grows along the banks, the carp are stealing fish food from the bluegill at the feeders....JJ

Started seining this past weekend, keeping numbers of "good bass", one 12.5, another 11.5 lbs., all the golden shiners, and all the bluegill and redear, from 1" to big brood fish. Unfortunately the first day kept some gizzard shad too, the second day of seining produced another 30 good bass including a 9 lb. LM, lots of crappie, which were promptly thrown aside, and tons more gizzard shad. I only transferred good bass, bluegill, and goldies to the holding area. When the time comes to release all held fish back into main lake, I will double check the fish released to make certain someone didn't accidentally keep a crappie, and will discard the gizzards as well, didn't realize they had grossly overpopulated in 5 years. My crew will finish up seining the "last puddle" this coming Saturday, the question I have is "how many bluegill is too many?". I feel like keeping all I can get my hands on, but could I end up with too many? Thanks in advance for any advice, JJ

it's going to be interesting how things turnout in a year or so. Please keep us posted on how things go. If it were me, I would keep all the bg,res, and might even bump their numbers along with additional fhm's and TFS along with some new CB lmb added for spawning with the F1's returned to the lake.

Tracy

perhaps I missed it but what are you holding the keeper fish in. Large above ground pool or another small pond?

Dammed up a cove in the upper end, used gabon stone and 3/4 limestone, 45 mil epdm liner on dam attached to 40 mil hdpe lake bottom with bentonite. 10" schedule 40 pvc going thru bottom with kleenout plug on lower end, upper end 10" to 4" reducer tacked in with vaseline, connected to 90 degree elbow, then 4" pvc with strainer upright, so I can turn the 4" vertical pipe down a few degrees to drop water level, or all the way down to empty. After releasing fish back to main lake, the rock structure will be a major structure with a 10" pipe open for fish to use as they wish. This setup will literally give me an opportunity to select which fish go back into main lake before flooding. This material cost several thousand dollars, I did all the geotextile, material construction, lining, etc. I'm justifying the cost spent in saved fish and the rock dam will serve as a permanent fishing structure. And when the lake is dewatered in the future, a matter of when, the system for keeping and discarding is already in place. It covers about 1/3 acre, 3.5' deep at the dam, plenty of cover, and contains aeration.

Dang sounds like a epic project. Would love to see pictures of seined fish and lined cove setup.

ok, ill post some media soon....

So, even with the large LMB in there, the GS still overpopulated?

I'd go 30 or more BG per LMB.

Can I save too many BG? Yes you would not believe the numbers of gizzards, I thought the crappie were too plentiful....

did you create the holding pond dry then fill it?

just wondering how you are sure no unwanted fish are in it?

yes some pics and videos soon please..

Cove was dry before constructing dam, then filled with fresh strained water from nearby river, and keep in mind, I will see every fish before released to main lake, since someone during the sorting process may have goofed. Too much effort to allow one mistake to mess everything up.... JJ

What did you do with all those gizzard shad? A bait dealer license here in Indiana is only 35 bucks and you are in prime big blue catfish country. Bet you could have sold them quick to catfisherman and offset your cost of draining pond.

shad dead or frozen in ziplocks?

Most catfisherman want them fresh (I know because I travel the country fishing for BC).

When you were dropping pond have a few big holding tanks with a brine ice water mix and seine as alive and throw in. They will last that way for a significant time if water is kept full of ice (and slime drained). Just put an ad on craigslist, the various facebook pages in your area, and such. Let them come pick up. Shad aren't the desired fish species for monster blues but do work well. The big ones (10inches plus) go for about a buck a piece, it kept cold.

If anybody would build a pond to keep skipjack herrings and have them spawn, they would be millionaires. They usually go for 6-8 dollars a piece.

OK, thanks for the info....JJ

what is your secret to keeping them alive? I have tried to transport and they just die...Doesn't the ice shock kill them,...?