Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Corrective stocking newbie needs lots of advice!

Hello everyone! I am wanting to renovate a pond out at my grandpa's land in Texas and was curious how big of an undertaking it would be, time and money-wise. I know you guys probably see posts like this all the time, and get tired of them, but I really have no idea where to start searching for info, so I figured posting my own thread would be the easiest option.

I don't know a great deal about the pond I am wanting to stock. I do know it is not quite an acre in size. It doesn't hold water terribly well, every couple years or so it dries up due to not only the Texas heat, but more so the porous soil. Many years ago my grandpa killed all the fish in it because it had been overrun with trash fish. I think his plan was to restock, but never did it.

I love fishing, and not only want to stock it so I can fish when I'm out there, but the main goal is to have edible fish. What all am I looking at to make that a reality? Would we need to drain it and add clay to the soil so it holds water better? Is the deeper it is the better? Should I make the pond bigger? What are the best fish for that kind of setup? I really could use all the information I could get. Anything you guys think is pertinent information, please pass it my way! Thanks a bunch!!!

Howdy MFFL, and welcome aboard.
How deep is the pond now when it's full? If it goes dry every couple of years' then you're right... correcting that issue will obviously be your highest priority.
An acre is big enough to provide a good "eatin" pond, but if there's gonna be major dirt work to correct the leak, you may have the option of going bigger and deeper for not much more money. Definitely would be the time to do it all. I would think that a typical Bass and Bluegill pond would be what you would want, and there's a surprising amount of variance in species between those two fish. I'll stop there and let the more informed folks take over.. you're in good hands, just hang tight! Someone will be along directly..

Just a quick bump for MFFL...

Can someone help him out with some advice, or at least give him some things to ponder while the forum is down?

MFFL...Your question is very difficult to give an answer..Renovations can be fairly inexpensive at $1200 or very EXpensive topping 20K or more depending on what needs to be done.

Obviously you need to seal the pond first...That can be done wit a liner and some prep work for around 7K and is almost a sure thing for 20years...If GOOD quality compatible clay is in the pond and there is little if any muck, it could be at the low end..Bentonite being trucked in and correctly amended into the soil and properly compacted is a very reliable method but ONLY if done by a pro that knows how and what to do...that could run over 10K depending on the variables...worst case wold be a total reshaping of the bottom and dam along with a long distance trucking in of high quality clay.

Call Mike Otto at www.ottosdirtservice.com or contact your local NRCS agent at your county USDA office (asking the agent quietly who HE would use can often get you the names of good POND builders...not dirt movers) The NRCS agent can come look at your pond, offer suggestion and may even know of monies available to help with the renovation...his services are not directly payed by you as they are taxpayer supported.

What part of Texas? Is it in a sandy area or rocks causing the porosity?

Thanks for the responses guys!

sprkplug, I am not sure how deep the pond is when it is full, but like you said, if there is going to be digging (which i am sure there will be) we can dig it deeper if needed. What is an ideal depth? Is the deeper the better?

Rainman, I know my question could return a wide variety of answers. I guess one bit of info that may be helpful is that I think we will be able to do all of the digging ourselves. My grandpa has the equipment to do so, so that would save a large amount of money. One thing I am very curious about is clay...I won't know until I drain it whether or not there is clay there already, but I was curious if clay can be pulled from other areas? My grandpa has 800 or so acres of land...is it possible to search around and move clay from one area to the pond? Is that a reliable method?

Dave, My grandpa lives in Shackelford County about 30-40 miles outside of Cisco. I think it is more of a sandy area than rocky. My Uncle lives on their land as well and when he was planting some fruit trees last year he didn't dig very deep before he was hitting tons of sand.

Thanks again for your time fellas!

Yes, clay can be moved from another area for the pond. But, you might have to move a LOT of it. One piece of equipment you should have to compact the clay is a sheepsfoot roller. Another thing is that the clay has to have the correct moisture content so it knits with the layer beneath it. You can't just pile in the clay, drive over it with a dozer and expect it to hold water. It really should be spread out in a 6" thick layer, rolled with the sheepsfoot roller, then another 6" of clay spread, rolled again with the sheepsfoot roller to pack it and knit it together with the layer underneath it. Do that 4 times for a total of 24" thick liner of clay and you should have sealed the pond. The clay should extend up past the high water level so the water can't get around the edge of the clay to seep into the ground.

This article has a picture of a sheepsfoot roller in it:
http://extension.missouri.edu/publications/DisplayPub.aspx?P=G1555

The NRCS agent should be able to tell you if there is sufficient clay in the ground, or if there is clay any other place on your grandfathers land.

Deeper is better. Find out from the NRCS how much water will evaporate from the pond in a year (on the average). Find out from them if there is (and how much) watershed would drain into the pond. The overflow pipe or emergency spillway has to be sized accordingly to handle any excess water. In areas that freeze (like around here), personally I would want 50% of my water to be 10' deep or deeper during the periods of lowest water to ensure that I have enough water and oxygen for the fish.

I may be wrong, but if the water doesn't freeze by you, I would plan to have at least 8' of water depth in 50% or more of the pond at the lowest water level that the pond would see.

A thermocline sets up in deep water during warm times of the year, and beneath that there is little oxygen available for fish unless you aerate the pond with a bottom diffuser.

I strongly suggest that you buy a few books from the PondBoss website on building and designing ponds if you are going to do it yourself. The money spent on the books will be pennies compared to fixing problems if the pond isn't constructed properly.

I'd buy the "Perfect Pond" book and the ones on earthen ponds.
http://pondboss.dsbworldwide.com/store.asp?c=8

If I was close enough to Mike Otto to have him come visit and give me a consultation, that's what I'd do even if I were to be doing the work myself. Nothing beats hands on experience.