That's a bummer you had to deal with that... All I can do is hope that isn't the case here. I've heard not all clay is created equal. We'll see how things shake out over the next week or two. I have a friend with a pond only slightly larger than mine that lives a mile from me and it's held water without issue for 9 years now (also only compacted with dozer). They do have evaporation to deal with in July/August, but it gets up around 100 degrees here consistently in the summer.
Is you recommendation to avoid sunfish based on their reproduction rate? I was kinda looking forward to letting my little nieces fish those... just curious.
Thanks, John!
/clayton
This post is not meant to diminish your work in any way, but the same thing happened to me.
My first pond was a renovation, and only compacted with a dozer. It still leaks after two years. The second pond was compacted with a dozer, then a heavy backhoe with loaded front bucket. It leaks some, but less than half as much as the first pond. Both ponds are in all clay. After a couple of months of soaking the all clay banks, wet spots started appearing below the ponds after they had been at full pool for a few days.
As to fish, in a pond that small, I would avoid sunfish, and stock fathead minnows and maybe 15 channel catfish. I have a third pond that is about 2000 square feet, four feet deep, and holds only fathead minnows. Yours appears to be about 2000 square feet and maybe six feet deep.
