Hello from Georgia! - 10/02/11 05:04 AM
New guy from GA here!
In the last couple of years, I have been working on the pond on the families old farm. It is about 2 1/2 - 2 3/4 acres and ranges from about 3 to 13 feet in depth. Unlike so many farm ponds I have seen over the years, ours is not a big bowl in the ground. It actually has some humps, flats and ditches in it. It was dug in about 1975 or '76. It was drained around '85 or '86 and restocked with LM Bass, bluegill and channel cats and then pretty much forgotten.
I have been pretty much the only member of the family that has had anything to do with the pond. Until I did some bank clearing in the mid '90s, there was only a narrow footpath that reached the water. It was just wide enough to tote a canoe down. After clearing, there was about 150 feet of clear bank. Now there is about 75 feet. There would be more, but a real job and marriage got in the way!
Up until early this year, the pond was pretty much overrun with vegetation as it is VERY clear. In an effort to remedy the situation, I was told to treat the pond with Karmex. I now know this was a big no-no, but at the time I didn't know better. The good news is that it did get rid of the weeds and because we had good rainfall during the spring (I put it in at the end of february) there have been no fish killed that I have found. Regardless, I will not be using Karmex again.
Right now though, we are very short on rain. The pond is down 38 inches at present. In several places, the bottom of the pond is showing and I am in the process of installing a small dock and some stucture for the fish. So far, I have built a "tire stump", cut some medium size red maples along the shore into the water and I am building a "tripod stump" from 8 inch by 6 foot maple logs. I have gotten some ideas from here as well and may put some of them into effect in the near future.
Thanks for the forum and I hope I am able to contribute something helpful!
In the last couple of years, I have been working on the pond on the families old farm. It is about 2 1/2 - 2 3/4 acres and ranges from about 3 to 13 feet in depth. Unlike so many farm ponds I have seen over the years, ours is not a big bowl in the ground. It actually has some humps, flats and ditches in it. It was dug in about 1975 or '76. It was drained around '85 or '86 and restocked with LM Bass, bluegill and channel cats and then pretty much forgotten.
I have been pretty much the only member of the family that has had anything to do with the pond. Until I did some bank clearing in the mid '90s, there was only a narrow footpath that reached the water. It was just wide enough to tote a canoe down. After clearing, there was about 150 feet of clear bank. Now there is about 75 feet. There would be more, but a real job and marriage got in the way!
Up until early this year, the pond was pretty much overrun with vegetation as it is VERY clear. In an effort to remedy the situation, I was told to treat the pond with Karmex. I now know this was a big no-no, but at the time I didn't know better. The good news is that it did get rid of the weeds and because we had good rainfall during the spring (I put it in at the end of february) there have been no fish killed that I have found. Regardless, I will not be using Karmex again.
Right now though, we are very short on rain. The pond is down 38 inches at present. In several places, the bottom of the pond is showing and I am in the process of installing a small dock and some stucture for the fish. So far, I have built a "tire stump", cut some medium size red maples along the shore into the water and I am building a "tripod stump" from 8 inch by 6 foot maple logs. I have gotten some ideas from here as well and may put some of them into effect in the near future.
Thanks for the forum and I hope I am able to contribute something helpful!