Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Our new1/2 acre pond is filling!

Unfortunately, I didn't find this extremely informative site until a few weeks ago. I've been here reading constantly, and wanted to share what we've done. I had two 5' deep test pits dug last summer and discovered beautiful clay. We've dammed up a small intermittant stream running through a shallow ravine next (downstream) from the house. This stream is fed by approx. 25 acres of old pasture and 25 acres of swamp and old pasture. In the past, a 36" culvert was installed to allow access for the tractor. I haven't seen this addressed here, but the rep from the USDA came out to look things over and recommended we use a spillway cut 18" into the dam, 14' wide on the sides, tapering to 10'. 6" of gabian (sp?)was placed over heavy duty landscaping fabric, leaving a one foot depth for the water to flow over. He said he ran a computer program using the 36" culvert at full capacity and came up with those dimensions. What concerns me is I don't have an emergency spillway. He insists the spillway will handle it, if not, there is no harm with the water overflowing the top of the dam as long as I have grass growing up there. I'm sure I've missed some pertinent information, so feel free to ask. Oh....will be stocking with BG as soon as possible, then LMB next year. How soon can I stock the BG? Will be aerating with windmill and membrane diffuser. I still haven't decided which windmill to go with.
Thanks for a great site with tons of info!

OutdoorsTom,

Congratulations! It's fun having your own pond. Add a new dimension to life!I think I'd shoot myself if I ever had to move into town with no pond! As far as not finding this site earlier, it looks like you haven't lost anything, and there is plenty of time to figure out the fish species etc.

I'm assuming the pond was just completed. CW suggests stocking your forage species when the pond is 1/2 or 2/3 full. If you get that depth this Summer, putting in BG and FHM mid-season would let them start spawning (FHM anyway - BG if adults were stocked) and building a forage base. But commercial fingerlings can be hard to get sometimes in HOT weather because shipping them is so difficult.

I think I'd try to get FHM going ASAP this Summer, even if I had to transport them myself with a big cooler, ice to hold temps down, and a 12vdc (livewell type?) aerator. This would be betting a smaller amount of $ on forage startup than trying BG at the same time. The double whammy of hot weather shipping AND BG trying to find food in a brand new pond would deter me from adding BG real soon, but Fatheads I'd be willing to risk. Since you are up North, I would stock BG and LMB next Spring.

Thanks much for the responses. The pond is filling amazingly fast. I messed up by not having any means to accurately measure it, but there's 5'-6' in there already. Since it's being fed by a stream, I'm seeing frogs and some other signs of life. I think I'll take your advice Theo and look into some FHM asap.

My contractor walked around the pond today with his gps and came up with .44 of an acre. That's the dug area. On the other side of the culvert we'll have a natural pond, 3 - 4 foot depth, measuring .81 acres.

On a bad note, we saw a good sized water snake swimming around in the pond today. Needless to say, my fiancee has lost all interest in jumping in on a hot day.

Any fish in the feeding stream? It may be stocking itself.

I haven't seen any fish in the stream, but things may be different this year due to my neighbor doing a lot of drainage work on his property last year. He's now draining some swampy acreage into the stream and it's greatly increased the flow.

I'm still amazed at how quickly the pond is filling. We haven't had any rain in a week and a half, yet up she comes! These two pictures were taken 46 hours apart. The forecast is for showers today, and 1/2" tonight.

Uh oh!

FH can handle poor water conditions. I would put them in ASAP. A little hand feeding with high protein food would help. A couple of wood pallets floating near the shoreline would give them a place to spawn that varies with the water level.

I'm behind the eight ball a little bit in that I haven't applied for my stocking permit from the State. I filled it out today and it'll go out Tuesday. I don't believe it takes long to receive. In the meantime, I can research for local hatcheries. Thanks again for the input everyone!

Are you sure you need a stocking permit for fatheads?

][/QUOTE]Are you sure you need a stocking permit for fatheads? [/QB][/QUOTE]

Yes, NY requires a permit before any stocking can take place. The brochure they sent me was very clear on it.

Tom,

It took about a week to receive my DEC stocking permits. Last week DEC mailed me new permits along with a notice stating all previously issued permits were revoked. The new permits include a statement about the change in fish regulations, i.e. the fish health inspection report.

Nice looking place you've got there! Good luck with your pond.

Thanks for the info and compliment Russ. What is this fish health inspection report you speak of?

Tom,

Here is a link to the DEC site;

http://www.dec.ny.gov/regs/3927.html

Russ

Thanks!