OTTO - I think you and I have the same affliction. I started in the heavy equipment business 12+ years ago as a supplement to my regular job and through the years I've built a few ponds and saw that most of my customers were not concerned much about where a fish would live and why. I grew up fishing farm ponds and oxbow lakes on the Pascagoula River and always dreamed about having my own pond. Fast forward to today and we are working on our third piece of property(1 & 2 didn't have enough pond room) and I think I have found the perfect place that will fit into our budget. The pondsite will roughly be 9-10 acres according to topo maps. We have most of the clearing done with the exception of some trees in the main drain. I'm undecided about how many should be left standing. What is better for fish natural or man-made structure? We hope to shoot waterline all the way around this week if the weather holds up and then the decisions start getting harder. I have some friends locally that have built their ponds with great bass fishing in mind and both have committed to come out and tell me what they've done and more importantly what they wish they would've done or not done. Sorry about the rambling but dang if it ain't exciting right now. Many questions soon to come.

Thanks, JTH