Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Private pond managers

I know every business is different so I don't expect any definitive answer, but I'm just curious about some ballpark numbers. I have been offered a job with a pond consulting company as an aquatic biologist however when he started talking about wages he wasn't close to my ideal price. I'm not a greedy person and I realize fisheries in general isn't a particularly rich field. This was my first resume out and job offer and I just don't want to bite on the first job, move 2 or 3 states over and get underpaid. Like I stated, I would just like some discussion on what type of pay I could expect in the private sector. This isn't a large company as far as manpower, but it does have a strong customer base and a small hatchery. I'd really appreciate any thoughts and comments.

This might help. I just hired someone right out of school with good education in fisheries but limited expereince. I'm starting him at 23K and I had about 50 others fighitng for the position. I also plan to accelarate his pay close to 30K in a couple of years. Most state jobs (in the SE) pay 18K-25K for fishery tech positions. It is a very competetive field with benefits better with gov't but with some expereince $$ better in private sector. Hope this helps, good luck. Good news is I think there is still plenty of room for expansion in this field. I can hardly handle the workload right now even after hiring someone.

But the real money aint in manageing ponds! As most owners should know how to do from this site and from DNR. The Big money is in actually, building lakes ponds!!!

Man!! what you need to do is quickly learn how to operate heavy equipment, start buying heavy equipment, and build these things for a living!! Trust me! Heavy equipment operators get over big!! Private lakes and ponds are getting increasingly popular, and every one in North GA wants one! I might learn how to do this my self as a second job.

big-pond I hear you. The heavy equipment operators ain't cheap. However unlike most folks here there are plenty of pondowners that don't mind speding money on pond management advice/work. They do not want to work on them they just want them producing good fishing when they have the time to fish. Also there are tons of subdivison lakes that need private pond managers. The field is still open, maybe I should keep quite before I encourage too much competetion. BTW how the heck is the pond coming along?

Shoot man Greg! The pond is actually coming along smoother than planed..I got all the permits and in place, and the money saved (thanks to a jam up timber sale). I am supposed to meet the contractor this tuesday to get started!
But, now I am having second thoughts about doing the whole thing.... :rolleyes:

My thinking now is to buy my own equipment and do the work my self. It would take longer, but look at the rewards!!!

I don't know.... If go ahead and let the contractor do it, the cost will be around $38,000. That would be around $900 per acre in the land with an 8.5 acre lake..If I do it may self I get to have the lake and a bunch of equipment, to me I like the former option..
:rolleyes:

Big Pond, I thought like you for years. I thought having my own dozer to play with and use would let me turn my place into Minnesota (I think), Land of a Thousand Lakes. My favorite color was Caterpillar yellow and I thought a guy who had a tracked piece of equipment really had it made.

Then I saw almost every dozer that came on my place break down. I have learned just how much fun it is to try to put a track back on, how much it costs to replace common parts, etc. Now, these guys were professionals who made a living with their equipment. They judiciously maintained them.

Not for me. I'm not sure I could afford to fix one. The problem is that these things don't break down close to a cheap repair shop and you can't drop them off for repair.

Really Glad to here this from you Dave...I need all the good advice I can get on this one.. The fear of these thing breaking down really scares me

That's good. Fear should always scare you ;-)

I know a cheap skate that bought a used dozer after getting an estimate on clearing his 50 ac.
A week after buying it, the thick oil burned off and he ralized that he needed the engine re-built.
Of course, he bought an old off-brand dozer, so it was really expensive. Once the dozer was fixed, he took out one of these tall trees with long spikes, that fell over on the cabin and almost took his eye out. That week in the hospital was not cheap.

Regarding the neighborhood ponds popping up all over the place, I just posted regarding out out of control pond under corrective stocking. Many people in the neighborhood may not be interested in paying thousands of dollars just for "fishing". But if it was bundeled with "Lake maintenance", that included fixing the ever problematic fountains, etc. maybe it would sell better. One problem is, that state money is used to build lot of these flood control lakes in Houston and we have to let anyone with Texas fishing licence fish there. Makes it hard to spend your own money.

Ed your right as well!! I was going to get a dozer to at least clean my property, I have 95 acres of cut-over land no trees!!

But the cost the contractor gave on the lake was not at all! Around 38K for a 9 acre lake...

As owner of a trackhoe (large excavator), someone who had planned to purchase some more heavy equipment so he could do it all himself, and as someone who wound up paying someone else to do most of the work on his pond...

I'd recommend to most that they hire it done from the beginning.

One of the main reasons for the high amounts charged by the companies for the heavy equipment use is directly related to their high costs in purchase, operations, and maintenance. The operations and maintenance portion is a lot bigger than most would expect. Perhaps not surprisingly, bouncing over ground carrying heavy loads / pushing dirt / pulling heavy loads leads to lots of repairs and the big engines use lots of fuel. And for some gosh darn reason I can't figure out except that they can by with it, the parts and labor for that equipment is about three times what seems reasonable. I know that darn paint and label can't be that expensive!

Most contractors can bring more and better equipment to work on your lake than regular pond owners can afford so they can do it faster (less likely of dam being washed out when half done), they bring more experience and usually expertise, and they can do it while you're working to help pay for it so you don't have to take off work.

When I was looking at buying all the equipment, I thought I would buy it for a good price, do my lake, maybe do some work for others to help generate revenue, and then sell it at a just slightly lower price if I didn't get in the business. Cheap or free lake. Great in theory, but it didn't exactly work out like that in my case and I doubt if it does in most.

Well guys! I want to thank you for the good advice. You all probebly saved me a bunch of head-ache and pain! I will let the contractor do all the work from start to finish.

But I will need to buy a big cheap machine to clean up all that cut over land. I have been quoted $1000 per acer by the contractor to clean up the cut over...$95,000!!! can buy a dozer for a third of that price..

$95,000 + $38,000 for the lake?

Sorry for changing my recommendation a bit, but the $95K changes things quite a bit for me. If I were going to spend that much money, I'd have to do some serious thinking.

First, I'd get some other bids. If the other bids were in the same price range, then I'd wonder if I really wanted to do it. I'd also try to figure out why the prices are such. Special conditions such as swampy or ?

If I still wanted to pursue it, I'd see if I could rent a dozer for a week and try clearing some of the land myself. If it works out cheaper than $1,000 per acre and I liked it, I'd find a good mechanic in the loop that I trusted to check into prices and condition of used equipment, then buy a used dozer to clear all of it.

Then possibly work with a contractor some on my pond...

I'd really want to check out each option pretty thoroughly before choosing.

I have been in the business for 15 years. It really depends on the part of the country you are in. The south will pay less to start. The midwest you can expect to get $25-30K to start. It is a great industry to be a part of. It seems to be recession proof, if that is possible.

How "easy" was it for you guys to get started? I looked into it about a year ago and took my liscensing tests, but I had a hard time getting insurance for this type of work. There is virtually no competition within atleast 100 miles of me and I'm about 30 miles from a major city and subdivision lakes are abound. I'm kinda concerned if it's because there isn't much interest around here or if the guys who are here aren't advertising at all. Do you guys have any business background? Unfortunately I have none. I'm kicking myself for that. By the time I was about finished with school and realized this is what I wanted to do it was too late for me to fit in any other courses. Everyone I've talked to has used a lawyer. How much of an asset is that? Did you guys jump in and start or start part time with another full time job? Any information would be greatly appreciated. I'm 100% commited to making this work, but I don't have a clue how to properly start up. I decided to turn down the Ohio job to try and get my own thing going in a year or two.

Rangersedge, You are right 95K is way out of the question! I bought this property very, very, right and I tend to keep it that way. The topography has a slight role to it with a heavy clay content. It is all mostly good dry ground. It is not bad cut over land at all really. It was cut about three years ago burned, and sight prepped for replanting, but the replanting never happend. I then bought it this tract a year later, for a real cheap price. Now I want to change it into pasture.. I'll probebly get something like a 977L, 963, or 955L.

1,000 per acre? Lets see, if he charges $75 per hour, then he says it takes him 13.33 hours to do what ever you want done per acre. Sounds like he thinks he's found a damn fool. Get other bids. This guy wants you to buy him a dozer. I'd have to also ask what kind of machine he is using.

Back to Green Head's questions.

I got into the private pond consulting field in a roundabout way. I worked for a state agency that did that kind of stuff for the general public. Now I work for an agency that does not and we are allowed to "freelance" on the side. It's decent money, but I'd hate to have to make a living on what I make now. If I could do it full time, maybe my thoughts would change.

One thing you might consider is accepting a job with a private pond consultant and learning the ropes. I wouldn't advocate doing that and then opening up a competing business in the same town, though, that's not right in my way of thinking.

One item for thought. Everyone I know that is successful in the public or private sector started WAY down the totem pole. We're talking summer jobs for minimum wage and no benefits. You've got to pay your dues in this field, just like any other.

I think Greg is spot-on with his salary given what I know about state agencies. A bachelor's degree will get you a technician job somewhere, but it will take a lot of searching, applying, and interviewing, none of which is cheap. When you do get hired, $23k plus good benefits would be about what you would expect at first, and a LONG time before you would see the other side of $30k.

It depends on how desperate you are for a job as to what advice I'd have about accepting a position.

If you want to send me an email regarding the terms of your offer, I'd be happy to give you my opinion on it for what it's worth. I'd be happy to answer any other questions as well.

green head,
sounds to me like you need to do this kind of work on the side or as a hobby :p ....Find some real work for a living, there aint no money in this...Shoot man, go into realestate and help people find land with a lake sight, and help them build a lake. There are a TON of people who need help in this area..just read the post on 100 acre lake and you will see what I mean...

Thanks for the imput and insight guys. I am most definetely going to start on the side with a full time job as a financial backer, but even going in part time is going to cost a chunk of change with chemical liscensing fees and insurance. I just want to go about it the right way. I am currently paying my dues as a fisheries tech. Big-pond--there definetely isn't much money in tech work (at least where I'm at) but it's a lot of fun. I agree that there is more money in building a pond, but I prefer pond management/maintenence. Thanks again.

Mike