In one of the driest years on record in our area, I decided to build a new pond. This is the second one I have built. This one is much bigger, maybe 1.5 acres, but complex shore line makes it tough to measure. It will be about 14 feet deep when full, but probably an average of 5 feet deep. Lots of shallow areas and a lot of brush will get flooded. What I don't have any of is gravel. Or I don't have any naturally. Most of the soil is heavy clay. I want to add gravel beds to promote bluegill spawning.

The other pond I manage has bluegill, CC, LMB, FHM, and Black Crappie. The bass do great, the bluegill are there, but not in large numbers, The cats are good, but I've seen no evidence of spawning. I removed a lot of crappie before I stocked the bass and bluegill. They are there, also limited numbers. Definitely not overpopulating. I really need more bluegill for long term sustainability. I'm trying to set this new pond up to make sure bluegill get a head start. It is extremely difficult and expensive to stock any warm water species here, so I want to do it right the first time.

So my question, does the type of gravel make a difference? Pea gravel and round rock is very hard to come by in this area and is very expensive. Does angular, crushed rock work as well? At all? If there are larger rocks (baseball) mixed in, does it prevent them from using that area?

I'm sure I'll come up with more questions with the first few answers.

Brad
1.5 acre pond with LMB, BG, BCP, CC, FHM and lots of crayfish, unknown type. .5 acre pond with FHM and GSF. 12 acre irrigation reservoir that I don't know what to do with. New pond, roughly 1.5 acres. Pond Boss Subscriber.