This saga has been going on for 2 years now, and the end is in sight. This pond is in Sandy soil (sandy clay/gravel @ 13'), and when I bought the house, I was told that the pond was 20' deep. I don't have any pictures from when I first bought the place in 2003 'cause the CD's that the pics were on don't work now.
I'll keep adding pics every few days of what I have, and try to post a Google aerial Pic of the pond at full pool from the Spring of 2005 before I started the renovation.
The previous owners had the pond dug with a dragline and excavator, and for reasons unknown to me they left ALL of the sandy dirt piled around the pond. Whoever dug it knew nothing about pond construction, and the sides were left very steep - 1:1 or 2:1 slope and the piles were washing back into the pond. When the water receeded towards the end of summer, you had to climb up the bank on all 4's - no way would you walk up on just your feet. The water would drop 5' from Spring to Fall because the pond relies on the water table for most of the water, and a small amount of run-off in the spring.
The first winter, I had a 90+% winterkill. 4# to 6# LMB, CC to 10# and numerous BG and Crappie were dead. (I closed on the house in late November 2003 and took possesion in late February 2004). I then checked the water depth, and there was one area about 20' in diameter that was 7' deep, the rest averaged 3' deep. So, I picked up an aerator and ran it the next 2 winters, without adding any more fish while I worked on the house (it's a 100+ YR old farmhouse).
In the meantime, a local contractor needed some dirt, so I traded him some work for some dirt (he took roughly 500 Cu. Yd of sand the first year, and that only removed one pile, maybe 1/4 of the dirt that was piled around the pond).
I'm guessing that the pond averaged 1/4 acre at normal water level (July) and the Google link shows the pond at a bit over 1/3 acre. The North portion of the pond which has the large island in it would completely dry up around the island from 4 o'clock to 8 o'clock by end of August, with the deepest part of the pond to the South of the largest island. The part of the pond that is surrounding the smaller island and to the east of that isalnd would be 2' deep by August, and the finger that is the easternmost part of the island would dry up as well. To the North of that finger, and completely surrounding the South side of the island were piles of sandy dirt over 12' tall.
My parents bought a place 7 miles away, and needed some fill for a pole barn, so I rented a dump truck and a backhoe, and paid a buddy with a semi-dump truck to move dirt. We knocked most of the piles out in a weekend, and we estimated that we moved close to 1,000 Cu. Yd. of dirt in 2 LONG days. So, that is where I can start the pictures.
Here's what the pond looked like after the dirt pile was moved from the North side (I'm standing on the North side of the pond).
The piles to the South of the pond are still there. The pics are of the East, center and West views of the ground. The water is low and unless I walk to the edge, you can't see much of the water. The trees in the last pic are on the island, and that will be removed and made into a 3' deep shelf for spawning.
From where the targets are to the pond was a dirt pile that was 15' high and about 40' x 60' which made for a good backstop.
The island that has the weeping willow will stay. In the Google link, the pond is approx. 250' wide, by 150' tall if you were to "box" it in. The smaller island is roughly 20' to 25' in diameter.
More to follow in the upcoming days/weeks! You said you liked pictures!
