Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Renovating a Pond or Lake? AL Pond Renovation

This site is truly a one of kind resource for all things ponds all people interested in private waters. I am new to posting here but I have spent some time reading through several threads full of great info. I have recently finished renovating an old commercial catfish production pond in Alabama. It will now be a spectacular fishing destination (that is if the 2 year drought is really over). I am going to try to post some pics here of the project ( first time, bear with me!). This pond started out close to 9 acres and ended up @ 10.5. It will be eventually stocked with F1 LMB, CNBG, SC, FHM, and GC.



This first pic is some excavating in the early going if I posted it correctly.

Howdy and welcome to the forum, HH!

Sounds like a great big wonderful project.

Thanks Theo

It has been a big project. Lots of work, but loads of fun. We increased the depth buy a foot by adding a new stand pipe and increasing the levee height by a foot. The levee was in pretty good shape except for some expected erosion on the inside slope. The new shoreline was also reworked to achieve 4' depth around the entire lake.


original lake bottom with shoreline work in the background





peninsula being built



shoreline excavation




the dead tree will become LMB structure before long!

Welcome to PB. Great pics. Will the bottom be flat like a catfish pond or are you adding structure/ditches , humps etc. ?

Hi ewest

Just got back to my post from helping out with our newborn baby girl! To answer your question, yes there is lots of structure and cover in the bottom. I had the equipment operators leave a series of trenches and plateaus in the clay as they were excavating for dirt to use in the levee and shoreline work. There is a lot of sand in some areas so most of the clay came from one area of the lake which caused most of the expansion to 10.5 ac. I also dug a network of trenches extending from the peninsula in different directions. I left the dirt from the trenches in large mounds spaced out along the trenches. There is a corner of the lake that is @ 3 ac that will be 4-5' deep. Here I dug trenches and hauled this dirt to the deeper areas to make 3 underwater islands that will extend to 3-5' from the surface. I came back and used demolition (brick and block) spoil and wood to add cover to all of these features.
Here are some pics of the shallow water trenches.









Uh Oh, baby Reagan calls! I'll post more pics later.

wow this is going to be a really nice finished project it looks like. please keep us updated and new photos coming. thanks happy fishing.

Very nice work !! You will be glad to have some deeper water in those ditches. I may copy a few of the pics for the structure archive.

AMazing work. This will provide me with ideas when I eventually get a pond built. I can't wait to see more pics as progress continues.

RB

Exceptional project, HH...quite an undertaking. Very impressive.
What are some of the depths as they relate to the surface area. You describe one area of about 3 ac that is 4 - 5 feet deep. What about the rest?

Hi guys
Anyone know why this forum only shows up on the list if your logged in? Anyway, Brettski, you asked about depths. The deepest area is in the middle near the levee. It will be 10-11' with the addition to the stand pipe and is only @ 1-2 ac. The majority of the remaining acreage will be 6-8'.

This is the area where excavation for the levee and shoreline was done.

















I put an extended trash rack over the pipe to draw water off the bottom during normal overflow.



This is the boat ramp.

Welcome to the forum! You certainly know how to make an entrance!

ABSOLUTEY BEAUTIFUL PLACE!

VERY jealous here!

plus 1

plus 2!!

What list?

Dave
if you log out and go back to the forum list and look under the pond construction grouping you will not see the "renovating a pond" forum listed. If you are logged in it appears there. No big deal, was just wondering earlier.

HH, looks like your doing a great job, if you need anymore advice feel free to contact us. Next would be checking water quality, liming if needed and good stocking plan according to your goals. Goood luck!

Thanks Greg
This lake is in the blackbelt region but does not have the dark prairie soils usually associated. There may be enough good clay exposed to avoid liming but will have to wait until it fills up to see. This pond will be stocked for prime bass fishing. I'm not trying to break a state record but would like to have lots of 5# and up fish. Any suggestions would be appreciated. The lake is finished, so here are the last pics of the submerged islands and peninsula.
















old stand pipe makes good cover too

Now its time for a rain dance!

If lime is needed, it's a whole lot easier to add it now!
You could have your soil tested.

Lots of work.Looks Great.

Another project to make us envious.

It sure looks fantastic.

With the storms, has it been filling up?

I hadn't noticed this until this afternoon at work when I tried to check a post I made last night in the "Renovating a Pond or Lake."

Moderators -- can you check this also?

Like HoneyHole, I can't see this particular forum unless I'm logged in (I usually don't log in at work). Here at home, where I'm logged in whenever the computer is on, I don't notice it. This appears to be the only forum I can't see when not logged in. (Isn't this a relatively new forum that got added after switching to a new server several months ago?)

Thanks,
Ken

I don't know but will forward this on to Bob.

any update on this one?