Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Creating habitat New Pond

I dug a 1/2 acre pond 13 feet deep about 4 months ago here in Kentucky near Cincinnati.
The pond is round with a swollow area opisite side from the damn.
So its like one big deep hole with a swming pool efect.
I think I should have dug a larger area for the shollow part.So 3/4 of the pond is 13 feet deep.

Ok know that you have an idea of what kinda of pond I have.
I was hoping For some help with what I should do next?
I went down to a creek and collected just alittle bit of rock and put them in the sholow end.
So far that all I have done because I dont know what I'm doing.
I plain on stocking my pond with Fingerlings this spring. I.m putting in Bluegill Largemouth bass And either Bluecat or Flatheads catfish.

I have a big Cherry tree I had to dig up for my pond.
Should I put this in my pond?
If so what end should I put it in its a Big adult tree with lots of Branches 20ft long.

I know This is alot of info Please read this and tell me what I might be doing wrong or plain on doing wrong?

Also what to do with that Tree is an important qestion.
THANKS

What are the actual dimensions on your pond and how deep is the shallow end?

Stock the Bluegills ahead of the bass, get feed trained BG. Buy a fish feeder.

Do not add catfish, especialy not flatheads. Flathead catfish will eat anything in your pond, including your bass. If you must add catfish add as little as possible. They will compete with your bass. With a pond as small as yours you do not have much room for growing bass, and I wouldn't add anymore fish than neccessary.

Add as much structure as you can, where ever you can, your fatheads with last less than a year no matter what you do. But the survival of your BG is key to growing decent sized bass. I think more structure is better. Rocks are good, but BG and LMB don't use rocks like small mouth and walleyes do. Trees, docks, weeds, lily pads , and rolls of fence all make great structure.

What should you do next? Read all of the past posts on this site. You'll get the education I and a lot more people wish they had when they started. Understand that 1/2 acre isn't going to give you the bass lake that you may envision. Bass can be stocked in less than an acre but it is a pretty intensive management process. However, if that is your goal, I would do it.

The normal scenario for 1 acre or less is fatheads, bluegill and channel cats. Just make sure you have fun and keep your checkbook handy.

landon, first you might want to state your goals. if your goals are to have a big bluegills then you will need to take different steps than if you wanted big bass. you never mentioned stocking fathead minnows. i would stock these either before or with your bluegills. that way you will have a plentiful diet for your bass.

alot has been discussed on this forum about catfish. blue's tend to be more of a predator fish seeking mostly live bait for food whereas in most conditions channels will eat almost anything. like the previous post said, i would stick away from flatheads, unless that is your primary goal. but be aware stocking flatheads means you probably won't have any other fish left to fish for. also you may have some difficulties substaining a viable forage for these fish. you would probably have to restock bass and BG to keep the pond going. in my opinion if you want catfish, stick to channels. define you goals first, what you want, what your price range is, then im sure alot of people will help chime in. good luck

Chris

The swollow part is about 15 feet long and 3 feet deep then drops off in the big hole.
So mainly my pond is just 1/2 acre 13 foot hole.
You think
I should put the Big Tree in the deep part?
My buddy has a 3/4 acre pond with Big ShovelHeads catfish in it.
I seen one cought out of there that was 30 + lbs

The Bass are mostly 1-2 lbs and some time 3lbs
And the BG are small.
I would like my pond to be like his.
with mybe bigger BG to eat.

I must have Monster cats And BIg Bass .

I'm I dreaming?

landon,
Wake UP!
No one mentioned what to do with the tree because when you mention putting Blues & Flatheads in a small pond everyone tends to forget about responding to anything else. That's because they care & don't want to see a new pond owner ruin his pond.
Put the tree in where you want fish. Pref. in 10 ft or less of water.
If your buddy has big cats, why don't you research this forum & learn how to grow Huge Bass? Go to his place to catch cats. He can come to yours to catch Big Bass!

So Big cats are out of the Qestion?

Just tell me what you would do if you had a 1/2 acre hole in your yard and love to fish. For Big Cats a Bass.

I forgot to ad that the 17 year cicada are coming this year to my area .So that is a major source of food I would say.
Would this change anything?

All options welcome .
If you were me what would you do with the pond this spring when it will be half full and cicadas everywhere.

Best advice I can give has already been given. Look around here, absorb, post again with specific questions. The replies you got were solid. I like Ric's idea of pond sharing.
As for your cherry tree, I'd have it bucked and split by now. Search this site for structure ideas, there's lots. Most of all, slow down, then come back.

Landon, I think you are missing the point. Where to put the cherry tree is question # 37. And the 17 year bugs are not a renewable source of protien. Answers to specific questions without knowing how to manage a pond won't help you much. You need to study water quality issues, soil situations, local fish success stories and probably talk to the NRCS. Lets go back to step one. Read everything that has been cussed and discussed here and then ask specific questions.

By the way, Glad to have you. There are quite a few guys from Indiana here that you can contact.

Seems to be alot to this pond thing...lol

There is a ton to this pond thing, its not an aquarium its a living system.

If I had a 1/2 acre pond I would probaly manage for eating size BG. Raising big catfish is out of the question, fitting the amount of food it takes to get a catfish to 30lbs in a 1/2 acre pond is almost impossible. Big bass are also going to be difficult. Depending on the ferility of your pond and your feeding regeim you may only get 5 or 10 3lbs bass. I am no expert on productivity of ponds, but if you are going to have any number of bass your going to want to feed. 9" BG will give you a sustainable and rewarding return from your pond. feed the BG as much as they will eat, and stock enough bass to keep the BG from stunting. Only keep BG that are big and worthy of being filleted.

But those would be my goals, you probably have different needs than I do.