Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Selecting a site 2009 Project of the Year Award!!!

Lyle that is a very peaceful scene. Good for the sprit and soul to view a few of those in person.

What species of trees have you decided to plant?

Yesterday I purchased three red maple for fall color and for spring color two redbud and 3 Forsythia. Hope to get them planted this weekend.

Over the weekend I recruited a crack tree planting crew, fed them well, and put them to work.







But the weekend was not all work and no play.

Building character! Nice!

Building Muscles also. The one armed Condell Technique!

Re building muscles notice his daddy is standing there - to take the photo his daddy (my son Scott) helps hold the fish in position and when he removes his hand I shoot the photo real quick.

That is quick. The left hand is blurred.

I just read through the whole thread and I am thoroughly impressed! Does the cabin have running water and if not how do you handle the bathroom situation?

I know that this isn't whereni should post this but i can't find where to start a new post. My brother and I have 3 acres of land that we just had cleared, we'ed like to put an pond on about 3/4 acre but aren't sure about pond structures. We'ed like one end about 8' deep ( sloped of course)and the other end about 1-2ft to raise crawfish in. once again i appologize for this being posted here but am not sure how to start a new post

Hi gjmcclung and welcome to Pond Boss. I'm going to copy and paste your post into a new thread so hang on....

The cabin does not have running water. We did not want anything that would be a problem in the winter and did not want to have to heat the cabin in the winter. We carry drinking water from home in the big water containers you commonly see for sale at Home Depot. At the garage we have two 55 gallon barrels that are filled from the garage roof and we use that for washing water. For warm weather we have a shower stall on the outside of the garage and we use the little solar heated deals that campers use. For the most part we collect dishes in a Rubbermaid container and carry them home for the dishwasher.

For bathroom we do have a separate room in cabin and we use a toilet seat on a 5 gallon bucket.

Bottom line is that we are roughing it a bit in the water department.

On Sunday afternoon Shawn Banks of Midwest Lake Management brought his electrofishing boat and we did a fish sampling.

We built the dam in February of 2006 and in May stocked the new lake with bluegill, a few red ear, catfish, and fatheads. In the fall we added LMB.

Shawn will send a report with details in the near future but the bottom line is that the fish population is healthy. Some of the highlights are:
1. we have multiple generations of bluegill, bass and surprisingly of catfish
2. the stocked bass are 16 and 17"
3. the fist bass spawn are 8-10'
4. the bass are above average weight for their length

We are not trying to raise trophy fish of any species. We most want to have a nice balance of nature. We would eventually like to have 3-5 pound bass and some nice bluegill. And we enjoy catching and eating the catfish - the stocked ones are in the 4-8 pound range.

Shawn recommended that we eat the 10-13" bass. We don't have that size yet but he expects the first spawn will reach that size this fall or next summer.







A team effort recording the results. Tom and Jack got the fish out of the tank, Shawn measured and weighed, and Scott recorded. And I was the expedition photographer.


After a hard afternoon we brought out a few beers and Shawn managed to relax a bit .

Good thing you brought out the beers, Lyle. I'm gonna hold that 12-pack of Keystone Light at 2:45 AM at PB III against Banks for some time to come.

Get a shave Shawn!

Very cool Lyle, that's for sharing that. We look forward to hearing the report details. It looks like a fun day was had by all.

Here is the raw data from the fish sampling.

Lyle

You've got one heckuva Pond Management pro tending your beautiful lake...just keep the beer under careful watch.

O.K., that's my first time reading an electroshocking report. Do the BG numbers mean that the LMB ate most of the stockers and all that's left is mostly 2 year old fish? It's interesting to see that the RES are large, but the BG's not. What were the numbers and size of BG vs. RES stocked, and were they all stocked at the same time?

The RW's are good on the larger LMB, but low on the smaller ones.

For my knowledge, what is the suggested plan of attack?

You took the words out of my mouth on the RES question. Whats going on here...interesting to see what the biologists postulate.

I have an idea........

BTW, TJ, I have my phone! Whew!!!!!

I think Shawn's report will be interesting. I do know however that he thinks that in general the fishery is in good shape.

Lyle's got the data and so some really short term mgmt actions to implement. I'm hoping to get the report done really soon, but we are slammed right now. In fact, I'm babysitting 100lbs of fatheads right now for clients to come get today.

Some keen eyes out there!! With regard to the bluegill and redear numbers, pay close attention to the scale on the y-axis (number of fish). You'll change your observation just a little once you start counting the fish in each length category. I will say the the panfish in general (bg and re) need some help with regards to condition, but it will be an easy fix that Lyle and Scott will be addressing soon with some feeding. Didn't take weights on the panfish because I didn't need to, they are thin. The smaller bass and all of the panfish are generally skinny. They are not unhealthy, but there's some resource issues going on. There will be some feeding and harvesting implemented this year to swing things in a more favorable direction. Overall, the Krehbiel's pond is in good shape and just a little tweaking will help them achieve their goals.

By the way, you've probably gathered this from this amazing thread about the property and pond, but the Krehbiel's are awesome people.....good Kansas stock if you will. I feel very fortunate that I get the opportunity to work with such great clients. Scott's boys are well mannered and they are fun to be around. I'm pretty sure one of them will end up being a biologist, so I probably need to have a talk with him soon and tell him about the medical and engineering professions:) Gotta run.

Shawn, thanks so much for the kind words. And I'm also sorta predicting that Tom might want to become a biologist. Once he is old enough to think about what he'd like to be you may be his inspiration for that.

We are looking forward to implementing your recommendations and getting the smaller fish up to good weight.

On the non-fishing front we have 7 or 8 new baby geese today. This is the fourth year this goose couple has nested on Swim Island. All spring they guard the lake not allowing any other geese on the lake. Often geese pairs will land and there is an instant war with the new geese leaving within 30 seconds. Fortunately we don't have a goose problem. This couple leaves in mid-June and we are goose-less until they come back to nest again in late March.

Re the below post by teehjaeh57 I totally agree. Shawn Banks is not only a first rate Pond Management professional but a class person and a fun guy to be around. I think we are fortunate that he is in our area, Kansas City. I'll take your advice and keep an eye on the beer

Lyle
You've got one heckuva Pond Management pro tending your beautiful lake...just keep the beer under careful watch.

In May we finished the outdoor kitchen by applying a stone facade to the fireplace and counters. The stone was a 1.25 inch veneer of tumbled limestone. This stone has special meaning because it was quarried in the Kansas county where I grew up. It turned out great and now we plan to do the same with the indoor fireplace in July or August.