Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Worried about a pond on family land (long)

First, I better give some background info. My great-grandfather had a few stock tanks on his land that were stocked many moon ago. There were three tanks, one around 1/4 acre that was, to the best of my knowledge stocked with channels. I caught my first fish there, but I was only like 3 years old so I don't really remember it. That pond has long since been little more than a mudhole. Then there were two tanks, the first (which we will for my sanity call "the front pond") was around 2 acres and stocked with channels, and the second (which we will call "the big pond") which was around 3 acres and was the typical LMB/BG mix. The big pond ain't so big any more. It was situated in a basin at the bottom of what became a tobacco field. By my teenage years, it was filled in to less than an acre and held very few fish from a combo of bad management and crop fertilizer runoff. The front pond was seined by poachers when I was just a kid, to the point of becoming completely void of channels. It was gradually restocked as a LMB/BG pond, but by stocking fish caught from state resevoirs. I honestly don't know that either tank was formally stocked. Nonetheless, for a lot of years, it was a very good fishery, with many keepers of both species and a small number of trophy-class bass. Surprisingly, we've been able to keep "helpers" from adding so much as one GSF or bullhead for much longer than I've been alive.

"Pa" passed on in his late 80's in 2000 and my 2nd cousin Jody inherited the land. He has never done much fishing, being much more interested in raising tobacco and longhorn cattle (to my knowledge, he is still the only major producer of longhorns in the state of TN). His only real interest in the ponds is to water the stock. Ever since Pa got too old to fool with it, Jody's brother Jason has "managed" the ponds. Despite a lack of formal management knowledge, he has done a decent job of it. He is a pretty good fisherman, and has enough common sense to do what needs to be done.

Nonetheless, he can only do so much to save a dwindling pond that is on property that he doesn't own. His brother doesn't really care much about the fish, and resources are limited for Jason who has no real return on any investment he makes. He has a boat and the ability to fish KY Lake and Lake Barkley, so it's not too big a deal to him, I don't imagine. However, for my dad and I, who fish from the bank exclusively, it's pretty important to have access to good ponds. It's also a sentimental issue to me, since I cut my teeth on that front pond, haunting it for many more hours than I should have for most of my adolescence. My first bass, and many more to follow, came out of that pond. Also, due to the lack of trees around it, it would be a great place for me to better myself in my newfound love of flyfishing, without getting too frustrated with hang-ups.

The "big pond", which as stated is not-so-big anymore, is probably a lost cause due to the location in a crop field. However, the front pond is still situated in a stock pasture, and I feel is worth some work. It has silted in, to the point that it has lost maybe a 1/2 acre of surface (which is not that big a deal), and is only maybe 1 1/2' deep in the middle and around 6" deep for most of the pond (which is a really big deal). I went there today, for the first time in 7 or 8 years, and saw a herd dog walk across it and keep his feet on the bottom the whole way...never dog-paddled once.

After trying numerous methods of fishing (bazillions of different pond-standard spinning tackle lures, several flies, etc.), and also careful observation of the water through polarized glasses, I arrived at a few conclusions. The pond has a fair number of bass of several size-classes. Mostly though, they are between 1/2 and 1 pound. However, I fear for their long-term well being, as BG are very scarce. Also, the few BG that exist are pretty small. Not malnourished stunted kind of small, but just of a small size class. I suspect that the pond has been pretty lifeless for a while, and that in the past couple of years, Jason and company have added a bunch of bass, but few BG.

I actually witnessed one LMB ~2 lb. die today. He kept sticking his caudal fin out of the water, nose-down in the muck. He eventually laid over, belly-up. I'm not sure whether he was diseased, or if he was a weekend edition from another lake that finally gave up the ghost on account of shock. I tried to snag him to get a better assessment, but some submerged brush fouled up that attempt.

The pond is also quite prolific with some form of string algae. My knowledge of Monerans and simple plants is a bit lacking, so all I can say is that it is rust-colored, but otherwise similar to the deep green-blue string algae that existed in the pond 10 years ago.

My first inclination would be to try to correctively stock the pond in such a way as to get its food chain happening properly again. However, due to the shallowness, algae, and potential for population problems, I fear that draining, digging, and starting over is the only way to really make it happen. Unfortunately, this is probably gonna be a tough sell to someone who cares nothing about fishing and only wants a way to water stock...

Brandon,

It seems to me you have two real choices:

1) drain and dredge

2) leave as is and eventually loose the pond.

You are already very close to #2 with only 18 inches of water. It is a tribute to the survivability of LMB that you can still catch some in that pond...nature finds a way.

A couple of thoughts.

1) Convince your "cousin" that he needs a backhoe and small dozer to help take care of the property and then get to work. He can write off the cost of the equipment and can seriously use it on the property.

2) Another thought relative to option 1 above and major surgery...if it was me, I would seriously look for a way to raise the height of the dam and push the accumulated muck into an island in the middle of the pond. That approach may not be feasible depending on the terrain, the availability of good clay, etc. but it is a very inexpensive way to accomplish a pond rennovation. I did one that way myself for very little money...but I also have the backhoe and dozer needed.

I really hope you are able to do something to save both of these ponds...in addition to the joy they will bring, they are a tribute to your "Pa".

Not sure if that last option is entirely feasible. For one thing, there's no dam to raise the height of, per se. This pond is (or at least, once was) a bowl-shaped excavated-type pond with no damming involved. All told, it would probably be best to just drain and dredge.

I think he either owns, or at least has fairly easy access to, a dozer, backhoe, tractavator, bobcat, etc. (All of the above? I can't remember!). Probably wouldn't be a tough sell to convince him that he needs such "toys", but would be a pretty tough sell to get him to work on the pond with 'em. And I'm not sure that I feel competent enough to operate these machines...I do well to even drive a lawnmower.

Brandon: I understand the sentimental attachment; but would also bet it cheaper to build a new pond from scratch. I'm not a "professional", but I do have an excavator that I have used for multiple things such as digging out mud around a pond. Mud is expensive and time consuming. Unless you have a really big excavator or crane, you may have to drain and let it dry out to reach the center of even a relatively small pond. You have to dip the mud out and either truck it off or pile it. If you pile it, you may have to push it further away from the pond with a dozer to prevent it from coming back. I'd really think you'd be much better off financially to dig a new pond. Jeff