Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Creating habitat Help with structure placement

I am looking structure advice, specifically:
- Types of structure
- Amount of structure
- Placement of structure

Pond is 1.5 acres, 1 year old, dug out of clay and fed by rainwater only. I'll probably be adding a well in the next month to finish filling it and keep it topped off in the summer months. I don't plan on filling it the rest of the way until I get my structure placed, but I will have plenty of free time to get stuff done this month. I'd like to focus on stuff that I can still get installed with the water where it is now. Some stuff I could potentially throw toward the deeper end if placement needn't be overly precise.

Fish to be stocked:
SMB, YP, RES

Currently, I have stocked 100 4-5" YP and 40+ lbs of fatheads. If my structure plan can help sustain the FH population, I'd like to include appropriate hiding/breeding areas specifically for them as well.

My goals are to make this as maintenance free as possible, but I am willing to put in the work up-front. Artificial structure (plastics, etc) are ideal so they don't need replacement, but I might have reasonable access to pine trees that I can throw in from time to time if needed. Also, right now I happen to have a bunch of small hardwood trees that I recently pulled out with my tractor, and I was going to burn. Some of them might be useful as cover if I drop them in somewhere perhaps.

Currently, I DO NOT HAVE A BOAT.

I have some ideas for SMB spawning beds. I'll be filling plastic tubs with river rocks and mounting them into my slopes. I plan on using some artificial cover (fake logs, and pvc crates, etc) near the beds as well. I'll need advice on placement of these.

I am guessing that the RES will spawn in my swimming area? I don't know squat about what the YP need.

One other consideration...somewhere down the road (maybe 6-10 years depending on the economy), the property immediately behind my pond) will be converted into a large subdivision. The area immediately behind me will be one of the last phases, so it will be a while. I am somewhat concerned about neighborhood kids sneaking in and jumping in the pond if they discover it. I want to make sure my structure is relatively safe in the event that something like that happens. So, PVC-Spears sticking up out of the clay are probably a bad idea. Large piles of rocks, particularly on the west side, would probably be a bad idea. You get the idea. I'm trying to work with pre-existing ideas and make them safer when I can. For example, I loved Brettski's PVC logs...instead of PVC, I am going to use plastic irrigation tile with lengths of semi-flexible hose sticking up as reeds, instead of stiff PVC. It won't be as sturdy, but I don't think it will hurt anyone if they jump on it on accident.

I'd like to keep costs somewhat reasonable when I can since the pond itself cost a bunch, and I just transplanted about 200 8' spruce trees from my neighbors property to outline the pond. Got a great deal on the trees and the transplanting, but the cost adds up fast. I am sure a divorce from my wife won't help the fish grow any faster.

Any and all recommendations will be appreciated. I HAVE read through most of the relevant posts about SMB-YP combos, though it can be a bit overwhelming. I also know nothing about how I want the fish to group themselves, so specific placement advice will be very valuable to me.

The dashed green line is approximately where my current water line is. There is about 5 vertical feet of water left to fill, but it's getting hot and starting to evaporate to some extent.

All slopes are about 3-1 unless stated otherwise.

The numbers 1-2-3 are my aerator placments, and the green lines are the hoses. I'd rather not interfere with those in case I need to pull them up some time.

The scribbled line around the beach is a small lip meant to keep the sand in, though it is not very pronounced any more. The sand is about 4-5" deep and covers that whole area...rather large.

The Blue Letters are "Zones" you can use to point out areas that might need attention.

I am thinking about putting in a dock at zone "G" at some point, but I really can't afford to do it right now, so it "might" be a future project.

I haven't decided on a placement for my well-inlet yet. The sump pump inlet will run during the wet spring months and bring in some water from wet areas of my property.

Winds tend to blow across the pond toward the north side (toward D-E), but eventually my evergreens should block a lot of it.

Derek sounds like you have been busy. There is a lot of info above and many questions could come out of it.

I will start this with some basics and some others should chime in.

YP do better with spawning if there are some weeds for them to spawn in and hide their yoy. If no weeds then xmas trees or limb piles will help.

FH spawn on the underside of objects in shallow near shore water (6-36in). Pallets and wood shingles near shore in 18 in. water work well.

RES can spawn anywhere from 1 ft to 6 ft and on most any surface (gravel to clay preferred) so long as there is no incoming silt.

As a general matter 1 to 2 brush piles or structure per acre is enough. If you have much ice over you may want your structure/brush piles below ice depth or in shallow water on the bottom.

Do you have rocks (basketball to golf ball size) that can be used to make piles. If so I would use them in 3 to 6 ft of water in the K to A and C to D curves. I would use some vertical cover (xmas trees or pallet structures or fish spheres) that cover from bottom to 6 ft in E and J just outside the diffuser boils ( 6ft from the outside edge). I would not put anything near the pier or swim areas. If you have left over gravel I would use it in 2-5 ft in the F to E curve.

Lets go guys don't leave Derek stranded.




FH



SMB nest

See the archive thread on SMB Spawning Beds.

Thanks ewest...that's exactly the kind of advice I am looking for!!!

I've gone through the SMB spawning info many times over...I'm probably more set on that than anything else. I am pretty sure HOW I will do my SMB beds...I guess I need advice as to WHERE to put the beds (as well as WHERE to place FH spawning area & xmas trees for perch).

There isn't much for weeds at the moment, but when the pond is full, there is heavy shoreline grass-and-weed-growth from A-to-C & G-to-F. I don't know if any of that will translate into growth in the shallow water of those areas.

I don't have a supply of rocks other than buying them at full price, but evergreen trees are no problem at all. My neighbor has several thousand from 4ft - 12ft tall. I can probably help him thin some of his overgrown pines for free each year, or worst case scenario, I can cut & buy a couple each year as needed.

A few things I have considered building:
- multi-tiered cedar "pallet" type structure(s), possibly wrapped with snow fence for FH spawning & cover. Overkill? Or should I just throw some regular pallets in there for free?

- Cages similar to Brettski's PVC/SnowFence inventions for protection of newly hatched SMB

- Drainage Tile Stuctures like these
http://www.pondboss.com/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=4;t=000199;p=0

- SMB beds made from river rock placed inside tubs at various depths. I have 6 x 26" round tubs, and 6 x 36"x24" rectangular tubs. Both are about 8-10 inches deep.

- I am also looking at a spin-off of Brettski's fake PVC logs as well, using drainage tile & flexible hose instead of stiff PVC. I'll use these next to the SMB beds as cover.

Anyway, long story short, I guess I really need a placement-plan more than anything. I have ideas of WHAT to place (and I'm starting to understand HOW MUCH). I just don't WHERE items should be placed in relation to one another and what would be the best way to control fish-traffic so I can find them when I want to.

This is what I would do with the FH pallets in your situation (pond not full).

Get about 6 pallets and spread them out around the pond where you now have and will have when full shallow water , but not in the beach area. At a place just back of where the pond edge will be when full drive a stake in the ground. Tie some trot line or other strong string to the pallet and leave a good bit extra. Directly out from the stake put the pallet in the water to where it just barely floats. Tie the pallet off to the stake so it won't move . As the water rises adjust the string at the stake to keep the pallet in shallow water just off shore. Once the pond is full and the pallets water log you can place them where best and take up the stakes.

Those tile structures on the link you posted will do great. So will any pine/evergreen with lots of limbs for fish to hide in. The stuff on the B'ski thread will work great also.

Update:

Ok, I am off work for the summer (teacher) and ready to start putting this stuff together.

Any further recommendations on where to place stuff would be greatly appreciated. I still feel like I am completely guessing on locations & amount of structure. I think I am pretty good on what kinds to make.

I'm waiting on a second estimate for well-drilling, so hopefully I can get that done soon if I can afford it (my house well is 300ft deep).

I've been wondering how my fish were doing since I rarely see any. I made the mistake of tossing in a gallon of aquashade early in the spring, and now I still can't see more than a foot or two into the water as a result, though it's starting to fade a little. I placed 100 4-5" perch, and the only one I've seen is the dead one I skimmed out the first week. Presumably, they are hanging out at the bottom since the water still isn't all that deep yet. I also put in about 40+ pounds of fatheads, and I rarely see them either, but I got good news last night. I was out swimming around and ran into a school of (presumably) fathead fry...they look to be about a week old. Once I knew to look for them, I found a couple big areas where they were congregating. With nothing to eat them, I guess they are doing fine despite no cover or spawning structure in place yet.

I have a small order (90) of RES arriving next monday, along with some bullfrog tadpoles. My native tadpoles (had 1000's of them for a while) seem to have mostly grown up and hopped off. There are lots of tiny 1/2" frogs jumping around the tall grass nearby.

The fatheads seem to be spawning in areas "H" & "I" just over the ridge from the swimming area if that makes any difference...although when the pond is filled, those area will be five deeper than they are now, so I guess that might change.