Pond Boss Forums INTRO New Forum Member Introduction NEWBIE

Hello folks I am a newbie from SE Indiana....Glad I found this forum! Never had a pond before but pretty serious about buying a place that has this 3.5 Acer pond on it..It's supposed to have some BIG LMB and BG in it! And I noticed a few things I'd like to change, so thought I would start doing some research and it looks like the buck stops here!! LOL Hope to sponge some knowledge off of you Folks!
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Welcome to the forum snide...

Glad you found the forum I am sure you'll find it quite helpful!

A few more...

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welcome snide to the PBF. Looks like a real nice pond. And a lot of fun to have as your own! Keep us posted as to when it becomes yours and what you want to do with it.

Later,

Welcome to the forum! Check into google planimeter . If your potential pond has been around for a few years it might be on there. You can use it to measure the actual acreage of the pond. Pictures are deceiving, but to me it doesn't look like 3.5 acres.

If you do get the place, what do you want to change in the pond?

Thanks!!! Checking it right now The small pics don't do it much justice, it's much bigger than it looks by those photo's..Plus there is a finger that goes back to the left a long ways...But I will check it out they say the pond is over 50 years old well see I guess with your advice...Goin to Google plainimeter now!!

I would like to get rid of some of the cat-tails and open it up some...And it seems to have 10 foot of lilly-pads all the way around it's banks...And visibility is only about a foot they tell me the pond is 20 feet deep at tha dam..

THANKS AGAIN!!

Well your right according to that it is 2.35 acers...LOL

I must say It looked a sight larger than that to me! Of course I'm going off what the realtor told me and looking at it I figured well I guess!!

Thanks again, see there learning stuff already and heck, I just got here!!

If you can, check the depth at the dam. You can use a fishing rod with a heavy weight and a slip bobber. If the weight sinks the bobber, move the slip knot higher until the bobber floats. Measure that distance. If there is a large descrepancy, that would (might) give you an idea of how much silt is in the pond.

Does the dam have a metal pipe going thru it? If so, check it's condition. If it hasn't been replaced since the pond was built, double check it for rust/corrosion/leaks. Rex had a good idea of having a plumbing contractor that has a camera inspect the inside of the pipe. To repair a bad pipe, it might be necessary to drain the pond.......

When I bought this place I was told the pond was 15' deep. The first year I had a massive fish kill and when I measured it was actually only 6'-7' deep. If I had known that, I would have installed an aerator and avoided killing 5#-6# LMB, 24"+ CC and lots of large BG.

If the pond isn't what it's advertised to be, and it's a selling point of the property, it would be a bargaining chip in your pocket. (it'd cost XXX to make it the way it's advertised)

Thanks esshup!! All those matters will now be taken into consideration! I dunno if it's a selling point or not it is one of 2 ponds on this 40 Acer property...The other pond is 1/2 acer and is just a earth pond/cow pond type...We are finalizing the offer pretty much so I'm pretty sure it's a done deal so I figured it was safe to go ahead and make a few post on the matter...I will search old post too and find some answers there...Somebody told me to have a fella localy "the pond doctor" to come out and give it a look over to kill the cat-tails...I don't wanna go chemicals on the cat-tails if I don't have to...So looks like strapping on waders and cutting them below the water line and maybe a couple grass carp?

The Pond Frog has a pretty good handle on eradicating cattails and lilies by mechanical means.

I've heard good and bad things about Grass Carp. As long as the plants that you don't want to have are on their "favorite foods" menu then you are good to go.

I renovated my pond in 2008 and I am constantly pulling cattails as they sprout around the shore. I'm thinking that the seeds are floating in on the wind. As long as I stay ahead of them and get other shoreline plants established I'll be good. I like to fish from shore, and they are hard to cast over!

Same here!!! Thanks I will post some better pics as it goes along...I appreciate your help!!

Cutting cattails below the water line doesn't work and grass carp don't eat them. You will either have to nuke them or dig them out by the root.

The only commonality about ponds is the continuing cost. Mount up, hang on and have fun with the new toys.

CAT-TAIL REMOVAL OPTION ONE (for now)

A local fella that has a darn nice pond said that when he bought his property his pond looked the very same way as this one...He said he bought someting at the feed store that took the oxegen out of the top foot of water?? And then he cut the cat-tails below the water level...He said they suffocated out and if he see's new growth he gives it one spray of round-up? He says the round up is oil based and floats on top of the water and if used in moderation it will not harm the fish...

His pond does look very nice, and he has some monster BG and nice LMB in it so I guess my question is, does this sound right to you all?

I dunno, it sounds risky but he assures me it's the only way he knows to get rid of 'em and keep 'em gone. And gives his word it will not harm the fish..

CAT-TAIL OPTION TWO (for now)

A buddy of mine is a contractor he has numerous peices of equipment namely a couple large track hoe's..He said he has done this many times before with succsess...Track hoe around the pond and pull em out...He also says that they will not come back anytime soon when he's done. He has a Lake and he says one corner of his Lake (20 Acer in size) starts with a few cat-tails every year and he simply sprays them with what he called "24-d" and they simply dissappear..

In closing...

I dunno, there's proly a bunch of opinions I'm sure, I just want to do whats best and safe for the fish...I just wanna get rid of the dern things and hopefully keep 'em gone somehow...I drive by Ponds everyday for years same ponds never a cat-tail one...How they doin it? lol

I have never heard of anything that took oxygen out of the top foot of water. It seems to me that doing that would also deprive small fish that inhabit shallows. If such a product exists I would be reluctant to use it.

There are a lot of chemical herbicides that are acceptable and formulated for land use that are not recommended for ponds. Like a lot of things, I think a little bit doesn't really hurt.

If it were me, and it's not, I would go the backhoe route. Admittedly, they make a mess on the shore,

On your last photo I see a lot of lily pads and it looks like something else. Can you get a closer photo and post it?

Yes I will be getting closer pics, we have a finalized deal...So I will soon be the proud owner of what appears to be a very nice pond with a slight cat-tail issue..LOL

Thanks, I will be posting often I'm sure

Congratulations Snide! Welcome to the pond owners club!

Oh and I have serious dock envy.

Thanks!! The dock appears to be a solid dock and at the end you step onto the floating platform...I do like the dock as well...I'm seriously stressing over this cattail issue...maybe more than I should but would love to have 'em outta there for good...Somebody has recently told me of an Aquatic Herbiside (or something like that) that comes in a pellet form that I can throw in the water and it supposedly kills the cattails and they do not come back??

Paging Pond Frog.....

Jeff, I am now familiar with Pond Frog's 3 S method. submerge, cut them off below the surface, which suffocates them by cutting off all air, and eventually starves them.

Gonna start there (3-S) with occasional Rodeo light spraying and cutting new growth quickly below the surface. My method: going to get a track-hoe to remove current cattails and sharpen the banks. Load excess cattails and sludge into tri-axel dump truck and haul to landfill. Following, I will have them to place rip-wrap rock around the bank's perimeter about three to four foot out into the water..The initial project will be a bit costly but may save me in the long run from fighting the same re-growth problem year after year.

With the economy the way it is and a couple of reputable pond builders in my area nearly out of work, I'm hoping I can get a reasonable bid to take care of this problem..

Next topic, pond clarity..lol

Also subscribing to Pond Boss Magazine and ordering a couple of the books listed on this site...Any suggestions on which to choose?

Thanks for taking the time to read this topic, and post replies folks, I am learning as I go and don't want to be a burden to you all. Just want to do whats best for my Pond the first time around. That's possible because of this site and other member's feedback on their own trial and errors..

I was hoping that Pond Frog could give you some ideas about the aquatic herbicide in pellet form that you were describing.

This place is the only place that I know if that has herbacide pellets. It looks like it's not the best method of control.
Aquacide

You bet you'll be welcomed here Billy!

Do you have a pond or any plans for one? What relationship do you have to the website in your signature?

Think this is a 1 post new commer, same signatur(link) in a former 1 time poster

Yep, same exact wording as that other one - don't remember the name but remember the post. Good catch, Paul. I think a moderator ought to remove Billy L.'s post.

I hope I'm wrong here, but with the increased visibility comes increases SPAM (and I don't mean the kind in a can).