I live in NW Missouri, and we have TONS of ponds. It's truly incredible. Missouri has something around 400,000 ponds statewide. In Carroll Co., the US Govt (NRCS) is actively building Pl-566 structures. These ponds range in size from 3-10 acres but some are bigger, and they are totally free. Most people know that NRCS does cost-share on pond construction, but these PL-566 structures are totally free. They are built for flood control purposes. I was talking to the District Conservationist (NRCS) about a month ago, and he said there were several people turning down the PL-566 projects. Seems they just don't want to inundate the acreage. These particular "watershed" lakes (PL-566) I'm talking about are all in the Hurricane Creek watershed of Carroll Co. Similar projects are going on in other counties but I'm just familiar with Carroll County because it's one of my assigned counties. This area has absolutely phenomenal turkey and deer hunting. These structures are in the uplands portion of the county. The floodplain portion includes the Grand and Missouri Rivers where some excellent waterfowl opportunities exist. Both rivers also harbor abundant channel catfish fisheries and some bruiser flatheads. If I had any money, I'd buy a piece of land in this watershed just to get the pond built. Land goes for about $1000/acre. The average cost of one of these PL-566 structures is 45K; your cost....nothing. Keep in mind that the PL-566 program is a special program that doesn't exist in every county, and it shouldn't be confused with the typical cost-share ponds that NRCS builds for erosion purposes. If you like to hunt and fish, you can't go wrong with this particular county, particularly if the piece of land is eligible for a PL-566 structure. Once the pond is built, my agency (Missouri Department of Conservation) will stock the pond for free. Working as a fisheries biologist for a state agency is a cool gig, but my paycheck only allows me to live vicariously through others.....at least when owning a chunk of land and a cool pond is involved.
Good idea on the 'exchange a trip' thought. In fact, one of the guys that routinely posts on this site is coming up to bow hunt with me this week. I've never met him, but he likes to shoot big deer, so what the heck? I have been told, however, that other websites cater to just that idea. I guess that there's always the chance that your guest could be a pyschopath, but most folks in this country, especially folks with our interest in the outdoors, are good people. So you say you got big smallmouths??
