The north side of my pond is where the levee/dam is located. The levee is roughly 500' long and 20-25' tall. You can drive on it because it has a gravel top. There is also plenty of growth on the levee with grass and trees. At one time, there was a 4" overflow pipe that went through the levee to keep the water level at a desired point. There was also a culvert in the northwest corner that has since collapsed and caused a cave in at the very end of the levee.
What I am wanting to do is start over with the pond. I want ideas on if I do need to drain it to start over, if there are chemicals used instead of draining for cleaning up the water, the best way to start over with the fish that are in it to build a better fishery. The only fish that come out of it now are all under 2lbs. You can catch fish all day...any of the aforementioned species, and get tired of catching fish. I am needing to know the names of any contractors that could do the work for me since I do not own construction equipment. I guess what I am asking for is to be put on a path that I can follow to make myself am outstanding fishery. I have friends with smaller ponds that fish a lot better than mine.
The pond is in the middle of 60 acres of wooded timber and open fields. The down side to the open fields is that it sits on rolling land. There is nothing really "flat" about my property. I do not know the actual build history on the pond. I just know that I have shallow flats that drop off pretty quickly.
I have attached some photos to give you a better idea of what my pond looks like. It is a great little piece of water, but the fishing just isn't fun. I routinely fish smaller bodies of water and pull out 5-8lb largemouth. Since the pond was built, there has been one 10lb female pulled out and she was a transplant at 6+lbs when she went in. Nothing native to my pond gets bigger than 2lbs...if that
To answer the question a the bottom composition, I have no clue. Just from my reading, I am sure that 40+ years of life in this pond has caused a bunch of sediment and nutrients, not to mention all of the things that have been thrown in there over the years (tires for fish habitat from my grandfather, trees, and just junk in general). Also, I do not really know what you mean by saying that 4.5 acres is a lot of water to backup and manage.
