Hello All,

I'm new to the forum and a pond virgin. My wife and I are building our dream home on 40 acres in the WNY area (Go Bills!). The pond is going to be started next week and will sit directly behind our house (not yet built) as the center point of our back yard. The pond constructed will be a kidney shaped 1 acre size with a 12-15ft deep end. The site is a 15 acres open field with no trees surrounding the pond (yet).

Our question is, what steps should we take to ensure fish will survive in our new project? I've read through some topics in this forum and have seen people putting in brush piles and tree roots etc. Is this the correct plan of attack?

Being that this pond will be for recreation only, with fishing as a side bonus, i'm looking for any suggestions.

Any help will be greatly appreciated!