Now�my project.
My land tract is just under 300 acres. I call it "Elizabeth" (named after my wife - gotta score some brownie points with momma). I know to you boys in Texas and the Midwest this sounds small, but for my area this is a pretty good sized tract...it is hilly terrain with elevations ranging from 250-480ft. About half of the property is in hardwood/pine mix and we manage extensively for wildlife and plant about 50 acres just for the deer and turkeys�we do trophy management along with the adjoing tracts that total about 2000 acres and basically I save the bucks on my place for guests... (I have only shot one deer with horns off this property and it was because I had my son with me and he needed to see a successful hunt to get hooked so I took a mature 7pt). I lease another 100 acres behind me to provide a buffer for hunting and bedding area�.I never even go on this land and it just grows trees for a timber company
Enough about the land�.lets talk water.
Let�s just start by saying that I ran into problems with my original site for the �stair step� ponds.
Not one to give up easily, I identified a few other sites and finally found a few that I could make work.
The problem with these sites is water flow...no biggie I have a creek nearby and I own a big 500gpm diesel pump...fill with the creek, sterilize, stock and then maintain water levels with a well. This is where I hit my next problem�filling with the creek is good, but the well plan did not work out (dug a few wells that were basically dry � just 2-4gpm). So, I�ll have to maintain water levels with the creek and that is causing me heartburn because of trash fish getting sucked into the ponds�so I�m trying to crack that one right now (comments welcome � I also made another post earlier about this problem).
I am not building the ponds myself. I have a good contractor with a great local reputation�I have researched enough to be dangerous, but I am pretty confident these guys know what they are doing�.they don�t take shortcuts on the core or slope ratios�the only thing I questioned at first was that they use a big D5 to pack but they are constantly using the pans and dozer and I�ve looked at several dams they have built over the years and they all have held up great.
OK � so here is the status:
Pond #1 - 2.5 acres - is fully built and filled with water. I botched 2 things on this one. I didn�t replace topsoil on the hill beside the pond (where we pulled clay for the core) and I can�t get anything to grow � so every time it drizzles rain the pond goes muddy. We also didn�t want to risk the dock being under water once the pond filled so we tried to �error on the high side� and we built the docks too high. I think I did a good job with structure and the construction was solid (nice core trench and a good seal � only water loss seems to be evaporation). This pond was built at the back of the property during the winter to give me a chance to cut my teeth. I learned a lot about what I want and like and am now applying what I learned on the new pond. I�ll also go back and add some topsoil and fix the docs�so no killer problems yet.
Pond #2 - 2 acres� just finished the dam last week. This pond is AWESOME. Nice and deep with some great natural and man made contours. A great view down the pond from the ridge and this is where I will be building my cabin (hope to get that started in the next month or so once I get my septic permit � another long story). We did a �bowed� dam on this pond to add to aesthetic appeal. We got most of the core clay from the pond bottom and up on a hill behind the pond, so hopefully erosion will not be as bad here. We have already top-soiled, seeded and matted all exposed slopes to get it greened up before we fill it�.will do better on the dock ;-)
Pond #3 � 2 acres � in process now. We have shot the lines and we�re just getting it rolling. Have a timber crew coming in Monday to get some saw timber in the pond basin and then we�ll get started. In the meantime the pond crew is putting in 2 duck ponds in the back of the property behind pond #1. We will plant corn and flood the duck ponds during duck season with water from the fish pond�should be an easy limit of wood ducks any morning we decide to hunt. This new pond will be the most unique shape wise and is in a more wooded setting.
Pond #4 � TBD � will be a small put and take CC only pond�not sure yet where I�m gonna put it.
I want to share my stocking and management strategy for these ponds and get some feedback but it is getting late and I�m meeting a friend at 5am to take him fishing (at the club pond). I�ll try to write some about the management plan later in the weekend. I plan to get started with the stockings as soon as the weather cools down for transport.
Good luck to anyone fishing this weekend...don�t catch �em all!!
If you do, throw the big ones back!!
