Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Ponds for Ducks

This subject may be a little off the fishing path but still has ponds in mind and I know someone can give me some insight. We have built lakes and ponds to have pretty fast drop off of depth to impede the unwanted plant growth. I assumed they would draw ducks like a magnet due to the surrounding hardwoods. We had an old preexisting lake that was fairly shallow(1-4 ft) over most of the lake. That is where most of our ducks all go is to that shallow lake. When building a pond or lake that has a compromise between fishing use and duck draw is there some suggestions someone can give me. Thanks.

Duck want a shallow area that they can turn upside down and filter through the mud with their beaks. This is why they flood the fields here in North Alabama in the Winter for the Ducks that over-winter at the Wildlife Refuge. I would dig the pond with a 12 - 18 inch deep shelf around the perimeter from the edge out about 10 - 15 feet and then do your rapid drop-off from there for the fish area. Just my suggestion from what I have seen of the Ducks in this area. Bet Bob Lusk has some good info on this. Bob

Often when I design a pond for a client I try to encorporate certain areas for wildlife and others for primary recreation sites; beach area, bank fishing, dock... Having the shelf around the whole pond is also a good idea to allow emergent plants to stabilize the bank and therefore reduce erosion. Many emergents also produce seeds or foliage which is eaten by waterfowl. Cattails seem to be the biggest problem with this shallow water though.
Robert Burke Aquatic Biologist [email protected]

I suggest having an area separated by a culvert pipe just upstream of the lake. You can make this area shallow wading area for the ducks without providing the negatives of too much weed growth for the fish. I have some clients that control this level with a riser board system. Easy to plant Jap millet then flood just in time for the puddle ducks to arrive. Good luck

I second the idea of a shallow area in the upper part of your lake. Greg Grimes' idea is a good one, or you can incorporate it into the lake itself. The downside with the second method is the drawdown necessary to stimulate native waterfowl plants or plant Jap millet is not necessarilly the best thing for fish. So, to be succinct, seperate area above the lake is a great idea.

I have also seen one instance where the client (Missouri) planted Jap millet in a leveed area below the dam, and then flooded it in the late fall from the lake above. This was to have the added benefit of controlling unwanted peripheral submerged vegetation in the lake by winterkill. It seemed to work pretty well, but I don't know what happened long-term.

If you like the idea of native plants, smartweed is a good choice, and starter seeds can be obtained in the wild pretty easily. Native waterfowl foods are more resistent to rotting and generally have better nutritional value. In addition, following a prescribed drawdown schedule will result in dense stands of desired foods, with almost no effort on your part. The timing of drawdowns varies with your location, but your local waterfowl biologist should be able to help. Additionally, I have heard rumors of cost-share projects on private lands in at least one state. You might also check with Ducks Unlimited, particularly if you are a member.

My problem with drawdown is that sometimes the drawdown is in contrast to what we are trying to do with the fishing. This lake use to have a great deal of shallow water and it is now confined to small parts due to our efforts to dig out and build more fishing points and structures. It is a much more productive fishing lake now and is more aesthetically pleasing but I'm not sure what I've done to my duck hunting. Thanks for your input.

Greetings Buzz!
Was looking at your lakes and ponds just before Thanksgiving, with your dad. If you want to improve areas for ducks, consider going downstream from your big lake, to the flood prevention site. On the west side, you guys have a flat area that has been planted as wildlife feed plot. I suggest you consider changing those feed plots to plants to attract waterfowl, and irrigate heavily from the lake. If you irrigate too much, excess water will flow back into the lake. All you will need to do is build a small levee around the site, and keep it wet during late summer, until the plants mature in the fall. The other guys suggestions are right on the mark, but you don't have enough shallow area with enough top soil in place to grow an adequate amount of plants to attract ducks.

Thanks Bob. What about below our lower lake where the beavers have made a small marsh out of that creek. I have never seen ducks in there but it looks like it will always have irrigation and is probably 50 yards long by maybe 30 yards wide. There is more cover down there and it might make it more difficult for the ducks to get into but it sure looks ducky to this new duck hunter of 3 years. I guess I'm getting panicky because we haven't seen hardly any ducks this year yet. Is anybody seeing a lot of ducks on their ponds in the North Texas area?

Thanks, Buzz

Buzz, I'm in south Louisiana, but for what its worth here are my experiences. First you should contact your local Ducks Unlimited office and ask for a project biologist to come out and look at your set up. You may want a second opinion from your local Texas Parks and Wildlife Biologist. Both are free and Ducks Unlimited does participate in some projects with cash or supplies depending upon the habitat value for ducks. As far as what to do for food, here is what works for us. You need an area that will dry in the spring, you will need to plow, not disk like a garden, in May. This will enhance the production of native grasses (free seed and feed), according to DU its better than planting any type of agricultural crop, and you can manipulate it (mow,plow, flood) without breaking any laws! Please chek with local biologists for the timing of plowing, and its also important to keep the water on the field until the last hard freeze is past. You will have to repeat the plowing only every 2 to 3 years to keep the native grasses going, otherwise you will get tougher undesirable species invading. Like I said, it works here! Good Hunting!

Thanks for your input.

Buzz,
Am planning to visit the ranch soon, when the soil dries, and temps rise. Will look at the site, have never seen it. Sounds promising, though. I have been to a number of lakes and ponds, duck numbers seem to be low to me. But, we are just getting into enough cold weather to make them begin moving.
Will be in touch.

Our land is in North East TX, near Paris. We have about 80 acres that we flood every winter for ducks. We lease this to hunters. It currently has lots and lots of ducks on it. Many of them prefer to spend a lot of time on out lake. The lake has quite a bit of plant growth in the shallows that they eat down as far as they can reach.

So yes, with the proper habitat, the ducks will come.

I'm in central Texas and have had the duck population change with the temps. I have also started drawing down my pond and there seems to be the bigger ducks compared to last year.

Thanks for the population check. They started showing up this weekend. Not huge numbers but definitely bigger ducks.