Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Beginning of a project

Like many on this board, I found out about Pond Boss after I had already "goobered up" my ponds, ie., added predators the same time as forage, added white crappie, little structure, etc. Now I have massive fil. algae problems, maybe out of whack populations, and more.

The reason I post is because I am getting ready to start the long, slow process of renovation. I'm not sure what I am going to do yet, but it may include anything from draining and deepening to just a supplemental stocking. I've noticed several times on the board people asking for a step by step process of how things were done, so that is what I would like to do, if there aren't any objections.

Phase I. I bought 80 acres of farmland in northern OK which has two ponds. The small, upper pond is about a half acre and maybe 8 ft deep at the deepest. It is a shale pit dug out pond. This pond receives some underground seepage from the field, so it loses very little water during the summer. I might lose a ft. where in the big pond I lose 4-6 ft. This year it was overrun by naiad. 80 white crappie were added, several 6-9 inch skinny bass are present, one 16 inch bass was removed to the big pond, and a few green sunfish have been caught.
The big pond is 3 or 4 acres and is an old, earthen dam pond. When I bought the place it was silted in, it would have only been about 4 ft deep going over the spillway (no pipes). Legend says that there used to be huge trees on the dam, which may be leading to my leakage. Some work was done to deepen it, but only amounts to about an acre that is maybe 12-15 feet deep at the dam. It gets very mossy this time of year, but last night I caught an 18 inch bass (5 lb?) and a 15-16 in. bass (3-4lbs) and a huge 13 in. crappie. There also happens to be a couple of blue cats, channel cats, and a 6-7 lbs flathead or two swimming around. Oh, yeah, you can't throw a rock around the shoreline without hitting spawnng bluegill.
Long term goals is to make this a family fishing pond. The small pond is being considered for a forage pond or even all male BG. Trophy" sized bass are not as important as "sporting" size with higher frequency. If there is board interest, I will keep updates going here and gladly listen to any and all advice.

Svoberts,

One suggestion short of structural renovation/starting over, would be to address the naiad problem. I also have some older ponds that were completely covered with naiad and algae. I stocked the sometimes maligned grass carp in small numbers last year and added some Tilapia this year. On my 1/2 acre old pond (with two stocked grass carp and Tilapia) which was previously completely impossible to fish, it is now open, clear and free of both naiad and algae. On a larger, newer pond of 3 acres, the naiad has been clearly attacked but not sufficiently to my thinking. I only stocked three grass carp in the 3 acres along with Tilapia and that just isn't enough. Of course, The Tilapia are going to die off in the cooler weather and the grass carp will remain, but I'm thinking an annual stocking of Tilapia and a couple more grass carp is a far better choice than chemicals. Best of luck to your project.

SV, I don't think you have much of a problem at all, it sounds like fun to manage ! My first question is: Does your small pond overflow into the big one ? If so, clean that one up first. Fish it, pull the greenies & crappie, get a mix of tilapia, bgill going if you can. a pond like that could support several "nice sized" bass over time. Try tilapia for moss control before chemicals, they should grow well in your area.

For the big pond, I think it needs a good survey before changing what you have. What you describe is a "fun" day fishing ! It all depends on what you want. Larger = $$$ & rebuild, Current = fishing and monitoring. I prefer the second option, try to get the flatheads out, there troublemakers. Also remove the cats that are more than 3 lb. Personally I like the diverse population you have, the bgill have the crappie population in check (remove the whites, keep the blacks), bass already seem healthy. Final point...get a scale, and weigh the bass if you want true results. Know that an 18" bass should be around 3.15 lbs if healthy, and 15" one is 1.8 lb. You can adjust the fish population as you see fit, just "listen" to the bass.

Svoberts,
I'm sure there won't be any objections. But post even if there are. I want to know & I'm selfish!
Just kidding! We all can learn from others endeavors. Your taking time to post progress does everyone here a service.

ps: Agree with Eastland, the flatheads should go unless you want to end up with only 2 fish in your pond!

You might need to think about starting over with the big pond. Bill Cody recently posted about the life cycle of a pond. Yours appears to maybe fit a lot of the things he was lecturing about. I don't remember where the post was but I'd definitely look for it. If Bill says it, I believe it.

One thing you might need to be careful of. You mention that the smaller pond has a shale bottom. If you deepen the bigger pond, is there a chance that you might dig thru a shale bottom and have a real problem? I don't know anything about shale.

Dave thanks for the vote of confidence. My comments are not gospel!! Exceptions can always occur in almost every situation, especially if the GOALS of the pondowner are different for the topic I am addressing. I often talk in generalities (or as in a general rule of thumb) and specific or unique siuations can change how the methods are used or applied.

all in all there are no 2 ponds the same in this country. thats what makes this site so great and ponding so cool. Bill 1,000 posts of sure smarts , we all thank you.

I never really wanted the flatheads, but finally let my father in law put them in. You know the type - "Aw, couple won't hurt." First time they get caught, they come out.

The big pond already has a leak, back side of dam always stays wet. Last summer before grass got established there were huge cracks in the dam, not sure if the integrity was breached. It was also definately a "mature" pond. I remember reading Bill's post and thinking that described my pond. It was partly dug out, but due to money concerns, I couldn't get the whole thing done. Mud is VERY stinky, so I know I have decomp issues.

Here is an aerial pic of the place. Small pond is straight east of the house, large is to the north. There are three shallow shale pits just to the east of the large pond.
http://terraserver.microsoft.com/image.aspx?t=1&s=11&x=1526&y=10123&z=14&w=2

Thanks for all the help, I'll keep everyone advised.

So after a little thought and some friendly advice (here and elsewhere) I think this is where I am going to take this. First change is probably going to be the small pond, draining, deepening, then adding some better structure and spawning area. Long term goal would be a BG and channel cat pond. Great place to take the kids and watch the smiles. I also happen to have a small shale pit (gravel pit) that I hope to expand to perhaps a forage pond. Bonus, I get to sell the shale over and above what it costs to dig. The last project is the big pond. I got a professional opinion that it is about 5 acres. I got some advice that I really like. Since the pond is so large and dirt removal would really ratchet up the cost, I will likely develop a few levees and islands. I have an old grain silo that I would love to cut up to become a "flower pot" for some lily pads. I also like the idea of rip rap around the edges and pea gravel to enhance spawning areas. I'm even considering sand (not too hard to get around here) to develop a beach. I've gotta learn how to post pictures on photobucket, I need to document this right!

Thanks for all the help here. I've taken bits and pieces of advice from all over the place here and I just wanted to let everyone know that it is greatly appreciated.

Geez, this post is really old. Here is an update.

Like most in the southern plains, we've been hit hard by the drought. While my pond was overflowing a year ago, it has dropped 6-8 ft in the last year and is tettering on the verge of a major fish kill as my 5 acre pond is now around an acre and a half, total. If my schedule with my new job will allow, I'm going to try to get a dirt contractor in to take a look at implementing some of the changes I mentioned above. Like I said before, I'll try to document and let everyone know what is going on.

Thanks,
Shawn