Pond Boss Forums INTRO New Forum Member Introduction New from East Texas

All, this site is great, Bob has been very nice and I am looking forward to being part of this. Okay, here is what I have. I have two ponds on our farm, the first is an 11 acre pond at full pool, and the other, which is down stream from the larger pond is a half acre. I have added CC, CNBG, and FHM in the lower (smaller) pond and I have put CC, REBG, HBG, CNBG, LMB, and Crappie in the large pond. I have added an island for the ducks in the head waters of the large pond, I am going to add several Wood Duck boxes around the edge in the head waters for the wood ducks. I left 34 stumps all at least three feet in diameter and at least four feet tall in the channel, I had 8 really large holes dug in the bottom for the catfish in the deep water of the big pond (yes I know they will fill in, but they did not really cost any extra, so what the heck). I had two walls cut for the crappie, and I have built several ledges around the pond. I left an area of trees that are dying for cover in the head water area of the big pond. The water clarity is way more that 18 inches and I have added fertilizer twice trying to get more phytoplankton to grow. The frogs and the FHMs are doing great, I have thousands and thousands of FHMs in both ponds. The depth of the little pond is 11 feet deep in the deep end and 6 feet in the shallow end. The east side is natural, and the west and south side in sculptured for humans to use. The big pond is native on the east side as well with the head waters to the north which I am going to leave as natural as possible. On the west side of the big pond, I have it setup for people to "play." The planned depths are over 30 feet by the dam, and about 18 feet deep in the channel and about six feet or less in the head waters area. My plans are to grow nice fish to catch (and eat!), have a good place to swim, allow the birds a place to live, and control runoff. I do hunt and I do plan on hunting a few of the ducks each year. I had an erosion problem that is now controlled by the presence of the dam. I have a spring feeding the pond system and the water test really good (Alk around 80 Ph 7.2-7.4 as I remember). My pond captures the runoff from around 150-200 acres as well. I have an 8 inch anti-syphon pipe set up for flow through after the pond fills. When I know the my flow rates, I plan on adding a hydroelectric system to the set up. My plans for the ponds are simple, I want to give back to nature and enjoy what it give back to me. I joined this forum to learn and help out if I can. Any advise is welcome.

Again, thanks for such a great site, let the games begin!

welcome highflyer....
sounds like a very nice place and you are off to
a great start. post some pics if you can. i am sure
everyone would love to take a peek. ps: how old are
these ponds?

The little pond is about two years old, and the big pond is less than a year. I asked a lot of questions before taking this project on. I had a bit of luck and I had help from a lot of great people.

I added a few pics. They are showing the BG from the small pond, the FHMs in the big pond, feeding time in the big pond and the little pond. The big pond is not yet full, but it is holding its own against the drought holding Texas.

One other note, I am adding about 50 lbs of fish feed a month to the ponds in different areas of the ponds and yes the fish love it! It is also a great way to check their progress.

Whereabouts are you? I am ten miles south of Sulphur Springs.

wow that almost looks more like west texas
than the piney woods of east texas.

i had a place near mineola, but now just have
a place at Lake Fork for the time being.

thanks for the pics.

We are North East of Quitman an we have a lot of nice trees, the pictures do not do it justice, so I am adding a few more from several months ago as well as a resent picture of my solar setup to grow coastal on the dam. The project cost about $900 for the panels, the controllers, the two small pumps and the hoses.

Very nice place!

Welcome, looks like a great place!

We have a 12 year plan to get it ready to retire on, and I have had a lot of help from very knowledgeable folks. I figure about 1000 more gallons of sweat should just about do it!!!

Thanks for the welcome, I look forward to the conversations!

With the temperatures, we have been having in Oklahoma and Texas, that 1000 gallons could come sooner than you think

Okay, I revise me estimate, 10,000 gallons and I should be done!

Or so I think!!

Okay attached are pics from todays catch from the big pond. I would like feedback as to the type of fish they are. I got (know) the catfish, but they just looked so nice I thought I would add the pics incase some one saw something I should know about them besides garlic, cornbread, salt and pepper, ect!

Remember, the pond is only 9 months old and I only added 4 inch RES, CNBG, HYBG, 8, 10, 12, and 16 inch CC, 3 inch LMB and Crappie. The minnows are from the lower pond.

Any thoughts?

Thanks for the help!

Green sunfish

Dave, thanks for the confirmation, but my real question was how did I get them and why are they so big so fast. Before the pond was in place there was only a small creek no more than three inches deep. I guess the guy got the fish from had less than perfect quality control? Anyway, from what I read, they are great eating and they are fun to catch! Do I need to be concerned with the balance in my pond? Will they cross breed with the other BG I put in the pond? Will they take over? Ect.


Again, thanks for the help.

My money is they got there via the 3" deep creek.

I agree with Esshup but I have gotten them from fish suppliers who mixed them with bluegills.

I wouldn't worry about them. Actually, I like them. If you tied a GSF tail to tail with a bluegill, it would drown the BG.

Although I have seen them virtually take over, it is rare, very rare.

They only spawn annually and bluegills have a rolling(multiple times) spawn per season. Thus, they get out competed by the BG. Sooner or later they will disappear unless the creek keeps them viable in your pond. Even then, I don't really see them as a problem.

I have a forage pond with BG, GSF and, CNBG, and Redears. I don't hesitate to seine or trap them and deliver them to my other ponds as bass food.

Thanks for the info and tips. I like them as they are very pretty fish and really fun to catch. I think I will try to keep them in the mix. Besides, the Boy Scouts will have yet another type of fish to catch and track! And I hear they are quite delicious!

One other question, what depth of water do they prefer? It appeared they all attacked the bait from below, and I caught them all in 6 feet of water, is that typical? The area where I caught them will deepen as the pond fills, but with this drought, it might take a while.

Again, thanks for the help, you guys are the greatest.

Their preference is just about what all sunfish like. Just deep enough to keep the sun out of their eyes.

My water is too clear, so I guess they are running very deep!

Thanks for the info.