The dirt contractor will be moving in equipment next week to start on my pond. It should be around 10 acres of surface water. I have a creek bed running through where the pond will be that varies from 6 to 10 feet deep that is steep sided, 6 to 8 feet wide at the bottom, and 8 to 15 feet wide at the top. I sold the timber where the pond will be, and the loggers left lots of brush and tree tops fallen over into what was once a fairly clear creek channel. I am piling and burning the brush in the rest of the pond area with my dozer, but I can't work in the creek. It is now totally clogged with fallen tree tops. Very little of the creek channel will need to be excavated to get the dirt for the dam due to some ridges of good clay sticking out into the area around the dam, so the contractor will not need to clean out the creek channel to build the dam except in the deepest parts of the pond. The channel will meander for about 500 yards along the bottom of the lake before emerging at the mouth.
What would you do about the brush and tree tops that are clogging the creek channel? Would you clean it out and burn it? I'm thinking the channel will be good for the fish to travel in, but I don't know if they would use it if it is densely clogged with logs and brush.
If I shouldn't clean it out, how much would you leave in for cover/structure, and how would you gauge how much to leave?
Thanks in advance for any advice.
