Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Creating habitat My habitat

This is still a work in progress, but this is what I am thinking for my ~0.8 acre pond that is filling up.

Smallmouth spawning beds. I will have three of these - one each on the north, east, and south shorelines, ranging from 2'-5' deep. In the wild, SMB like to spawn predominately on the north and east shorelines that warm up faster. Probably doesn't matter in a small pond, though. I copied the idea found in the forum to use a pallet and wire mesh to support the rocks and cobble and prevent them from sinking/silting too quickly. These look similar to the beds in my favorite SMB lakes in the Northwoods. I may add an overhanging log.

Pallet A-frames: These are weighted down in about 6' of water with concrete pilings from the old dock. I may shove some sticks or brush inside.

Christmas trees: Two groups of 6 trees anchored in 8' of water with cinder blocks. I can keep adding to this every year in various ways.

Still to come: Horizontal pallets in shallow water for FHM spawning and a cinder block/rock reef of some kind.

Looks great!

Thanks for showing us your interesting new MI pond. Your habitat is a very good start. Be sure to mark the underwater structures so you can easily locate them 3-5+ yrs later. After 3-5 yrs the Xmas trees will be relics of only the trunk and largest now bare branches. Wood decomposes surprisingly fast under water. It would be a good idea to put some tree-brushy area close to each SMB spawning bed if you are interested in promoting recruitment of the smallies. Keep in mind that 15%-25% of the pond shoreline is considered optimum habitat area as the best amount of production habitat for a quality sport fishery. As an example 186 ft length of one entire shoreline of a square 0.8 acre pond is 25% of the total shoreline length. Be sure to keep us updated about your northern pond with the success of the smallies and supporting fishes.

Got any hedgeapple/osage orange wood? It should last longer than just about any other. My SMB fry have been hanging out by it for going on 15 years.

Be careful what you use. Green Oak has tanins that are lethal to fish. I found that out the hard/expensive way.

Nice work on the structure. There is a very good SMB beds thread in the archives (Common Questions) forum section. Add some wood cover near the SMB beds for better results.

Love it! Especially the plastic pallets for the smallie beds.

My thoughts regarding cover.....do more than less.

Thanks!

What is considered "near" the spawning beds for wood cover? A brush pile touching the spawning bed directly or one that is 50 feet away? I have read mixed recommendations on this. In the wild, the SMB beds seem to be in open water, perhaps under a fallen log, not so much in a tangle of brush.

For SMB close - as in a few feet. And yes wood like a log or substantial limb, not a xmas tree. In this actual SMB bed pic I am standing on a wood pier about 3 ft away from the bed.