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Joined: Jun 2016
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My new pond will be dug by a reputable pond builder in the area sometime around September 15th of this year. He has done hundreds of ponds in the area. Many friends used him and not one bad experience have I heard. I had test holes dug to 15 foot and the ground looked fine, only minimal sand close to top by one hole out of three. It should be around .5-.75 acres in size. The information I have read on this forum is overwhelming, but I feel that I have grasped what I need to build a good pond. Thanks for all the help to everyone in several threads that members have done to follow their pond builds.

I plan to to post pics of the whole process. Any suggestions or tips are welcome and appreciated. Now for the plan.

The pond will be dug on flat ground that is now planted as a hay field that lies between my house and a waterway that drains crop fields to a small crick. I plan to mound dirt enough around pond so no field runoff will get into pond to reduce the nutrients coming in.

The pond will be for swimming/fishing. The wife wants it to remain fairly weed free for the kids to swim. So blue dye will be added. The entire front half will be mainly for swimming and the back half for fish habitat/structure. I will put liner under beach sand and for other shallow spawn area with river rock/gravel.

I plan to aerate with vertex , possibly one diffuser shallow and one deep. Talked to Sue the other day, very nice and helpful , and she suggested installing system in spring 2017. Also will feed fish. I will plant annual rye in pond basin right after completion and plan to seed grass this fall and use one row of straw mats above rip rap border to help with erosion.

Not too worried about stocking of fish yet due to late pond build. Probably won't stock anything until spring 2017 unless recommended to do so. Not sure if enough water will be present this fall. Plan on doing FHM , GSH and softshell crayfish first and possibly RES in spring. Fall 2017 do YP and HBG(unless talked out of it). I have read mostly good things about HBG and want something the kids and I can catch and eat during summer. Then SMB added in 2018 and HSB with the SMB or wait until spring. Gonna try to be patient and build forage first.

I have collected a bunch of broken concrete and over 400 cinder blocks so far for free to use as structure. I also have made some artificial trees. And plan on making SMB beds on shelf in pond as seen by examples on this forum.

I am willing to take any suggestions on pond layout and whether or not enough structure and fish stocking plan. I am completely new to this, other than the hours and hours spent reading this forum.

Thanks, scott


.75 acre pond dug in September 2016. YP, HBG, HSB, SMB, and RES.
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first pic is looking from waterway to house.
second pic is from house to waterway.
third and fourth pics are of collected concrete and cinder blocks.
fifth pic is of rough pond plan. sorry, I am not an artist.

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Last edited by xraytrapper; 09/01/16 12:15 AM.

.75 acre pond dug in September 2016. YP, HBG, HSB, SMB, and RES.
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artificial tree pics. just need to bend metal strips into different shapes when put into pond. also need to weigh down small pvc structure when placed in pond. probably will build a few more yet. hope the YP will like them. the tree structure will be placed in the deeper end and run up towards shallow end away from swimming areas.

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Last edited by xraytrapper; 09/01/16 12:24 AM.

.75 acre pond dug in September 2016. YP, HBG, HSB, SMB, and RES.
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pond got started today. just thought I would share some pics of the progress. should start taking some shape tomorrow. should be done soon enough to hopefully add the softshell crayfish from smithcreek. guy there said 5 foot water depth should be good to holdover the crayfish over the winter. anyone have any opinions on how deep of water will keep them alive over the winter? I will have broken concrete structure in different spots and some on the bottom for them. also going to plant the pond basin with annual rye.

first pic is the boss looking on at his future swimming hole.

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Last edited by xraytrapper; 09/15/16 11:23 PM.

.75 acre pond dug in September 2016. YP, HBG, HSB, SMB, and RES.
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Looks exciting! So is this a groundwater pond? What is soil like at the bottom (I guess you will know soon)? How will the bottom be prepared or compacted? Will you rely on rainwater to fill or will you have a pump to fill it?

Crayfish seem to live just about anywhere but not sure in a new pond at 5' depth. I just don't have knowledge to tell you but I'm sure they will have plenty of structure!

Parts of the pond will be deeper than 5' this winter right? I wasn't sure why you said the pond would only be 5' deep the first winter.

Last edited by canyoncreek; 09/16/16 10:26 AM.
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Pond will fill with rainwater. May run the well water in awhile to get it up quicker so I can get crayfish started this year yet. Smithcreek said they can ship into October as long as supply's last. I want them this year so I can get the spawn next spring. Going to mound around pond to keep all the field runoff out. Don't want the chemicals and fertilizer getting in.
I just said 5 feet as a rough estimate of minimum amount of water that should be in pond by 1st week of October. If big rain comes then more water should be in. Just a low estimate. Max depth should be close to 15 foot at full pool.
Three test holes dug showed good clay down to 12-15 foot. The pond bottom and low side will compacted with clay dumped by pan and I believe just driving over with the 4wd tractor and the pan. He has done hundreds of ponds around here and I have not heard of any problems from multiple friends with ponds done by them.


.75 acre pond dug in September 2016. YP, HBG, HSB, SMB, and RES.
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pond is 90% done. they have a little bit of finish work today and putting rip rap around pond edge maybe this weekend. liner is supposed to be in today or tomorrow. beach sand will be put in later on. two downspout tiles were running into hayfield so they will be connected in yard and ran into the pond to help fill and keep pond full. depth at deepest part is 15 foot and should be half acre or a bit more in size. hoping to get grass seeded around it by next weekend and some rye in the pond basin. weather looks like no rain for awhile so all the pond structure will be in this weekend. just hope to get the crayfish in this fall and probably wait on the FHM and GSH until spring at this point.

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.75 acre pond dug in September 2016. YP, HBG, HSB, SMB, and RES.
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more pics. will try to remember to take pics of the shelf and point better and will post more pics of structure going in.

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Last edited by xraytrapper; 09/21/16 06:27 AM.

.75 acre pond dug in September 2016. YP, HBG, HSB, SMB, and RES.
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Looks nice Scott, I am planing a .5-1 acre pond in SwOhio . Hope to have it completed by late Nov. I will have some run off from crops, how big are you making the mounds? Wouldn't that also prevent the run off from filling the pond? I am planning HSB, SMB and HBG, all on a feed program / aeration as well.

Are u planning on feeding? What qty of fish were u thinking?
Depending how quick I can get mine going might do some trout in the winter just for fun...


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Looks good.

It looks like the runoff from the corn field opposite the drive way will not go into the pond but rather drain into the draw behind the house. I think that is a wise idea. A lot of corn leaves and shucks can wash into the pond if the water ran directly into it. Looks like you are getting the runoff from up above where the drive way comes from.

Any way you can cause water from agriculture runoff to meander or cross some grass area before it enters the pond will help keep sediment and trash out of the pond.


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beastman, the mound on the side closest to field was only a foot or so high. that was enough to keep the field runoff out. the mounds on the opposite side had to be about 6-7 foot of packed clay due to the slope towards the crick. pond will fill with rainfall and the downspouts from house are tiled into it also. I am going to feed also and not sure yet on fish numbers to be stocked. will ask those questions in the spring. I want to get the crayfish in this fall and then the FHM and GSH in next spring. and probably the RES in the spring. then YP and HBG maybe in the fall. then following spring or fall , depending on forage numbers , the SMB and HSB will go in.
pond ended up being just shy of 3/4 acre.

snrub, they did leave a small gap where some water could possibly get into pond but like you said it will be filtered by quite a bit of grass. I definitely wanted to keep all the field runoff away the best we could.

more pics.

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Last edited by xraytrapper; 09/21/16 10:11 PM.

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That looks super. Fits right in that spot of land you had.


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That's a pretty looking set up. I hope you get many hours of enjoyment from it!


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Do you mind me asking how much the pond excavating cost? I know a lot of variables but yours will be close to the size I hope to have. If you plan to feed each day you can probably get away with stocking earlier but you are correct to wait if you really want a strong forage base. Thanks for all the pics


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They told me the estimate should be 14-16000 with sand and rock done. But won't know for sure until I get the bill.


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What makes me nervous about xray's new pond is I don't see a sheepsfoot roller on site for best soil compaction even with good available clay. Layers of clay spread out and just compacted with weight does not have the layers knitted together as with a sheepsfoot and water tends to seek an exit between the layered sheets (lifts) of clay. If the pond has some small leaks and does not stay full, this will probably by why.

Last edited by Bill Cody; 09/23/16 11:25 AM.

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Now you have me worried bill. He has done most ponds around the area and have not heard of any problems. I guess time will tell.


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Building a pond without a sheepsfoot roller should worry the pond owner. You are correct, time will tell the rest of the story. For your luck I hope for a sealed pond. Soil conditions vary a lot in every county. All it takes for a leaky pond is one small area that is not well compacted, too thick of a few lifts, or a few small grainy or sandy veins or areas can easily result in seepage. For various reasons, slow gradual leaks sometimes take a few years to develop. All soil lined ponds leak, it is just the degree or amount of seepage that makes the difference. A well sealed pond during a two month drought will only lose about 12" of water.

Last edited by Bill Cody; 09/24/16 02:27 PM.

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No sheepsfoot roller was used on my first pond, but the core was compacted with one on my second pond. Both hold water great. I now own a small (4'x4') pull-type sheepsfoot roller so new ponds and wetlands (we are building a new wetland now) will bet compacted. We are fortunate that we have good clay. We will also compact the raised pad for a new barn (being built with the wetland spoil). My 38 HP tractor is not really big enough to tow the roller, but the small dozer has no trouble.


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