Exciting times CJ, looking for your new property and new pond.
I've got a few general suggestions and some specific to this property.
First, if you are looking for land, you have a blank canvas to create your masterpiece. A lot of people have to work with the land and location they already have. When you are looking, you might be able to find a property with a steep ravine that would be a perfect place to dam up and build a pond. The ravine might be a negative for other potential landowners but an asset to you.
In my opinion, building a new pond is preferable to enlarging/refurbishing an old one. In the last couple years I've built three new ponds (one 3 acre and a couple small sediment and forage ponds) and refurbished and expanded three ponds (one for son, one for daughter and one on my own property). I'm not a contractor but instead a semi-retired farmer with some time on my hands and some construction equipment. I can tell you from first hand experience, building new is easier and probably in a lot of cases cheaper than cleaning out and enlarging an old pond. Working with new dirt is a whole lot easier than dealing with 40 year old pond muck. Something to keep in mind when looking at properties.
But do not shy away from properties with old ponds. This property you are looking at is a good example. You have had good suggestions that the current pond might be able to be expanded up slope and made larger. Good ides, but in my opinion an even better idea if the area above the pond is large enough is to leave the old pond as is and create a new pond above the old pond with the new pond overflow running into the old pond.
Why? For the reason stated above for one. Easier to build new than clean out old. But it would also give you a lot of other options. Here are some advantages to building a new pond and doing only modest maintenance on the old pond (like cleaning up the dam, etc.)
To reach your goal of large LMB, it is going to take several years. Leaving the old pond intact gives you at least something to fish while the new pond comes on line.
The old pond could become a forage pond to raise forage fish to feed your monster bass or for bait.
The old pond could become a "kids" pond filled with lots of BG and small LMB for fast action fishing for modest size fish.
You will eventually need to cull smaller LMB out of your main pond to allow the few to get to record size. You could put some of them in the old pond. See kids pond above.
Don't have kids? If you are managing the main pond for monster LMB it means you will have fewer large fish (as opposed to lots of regular size fish) = means less fish to bite = harder to catch. Having a second pond with easy to catch modest fish might be a change of pace from waiting all day for the monster fish to bite.
Having more than one pond gives you lots of management options. Building new is easier than cleaning out old. Someone else's junk property might be the perfect "pond" property for you. Three things to keep in mind as you look at properties.
Last edited by snrub; 11/05/14 08:51 PM.
