Hello, Thanks in advance for any help with this pond. A few years ago we bought a property to build a house on that has a just shy of 1/2 acre pond on it. The pond has been neglected for many years and is completely surrounded by timber. It has trees growing all the way to the water's edge all around it, including the dam. I had to cut a path to even get to the pond when we first bought the property. It is about 9-10 feet deep in the middle. It has tons of leaf litter on the bottom and as best as I can tell about 8"-10" of muck in the bottom. Run off is the water supply. It's full of tad poles, frogs and crawdads but I don't believe any fish. The pond is located where three properties meet, so it is shared by us and two of our neighbors. I've spoke to the neighbors and they tell me the pond used to have bass in it, but they haven't even been to the pond for years. I think the fish must have been killed off at some point.
After spending a couple of years building our house and moving in, I'm ready to give some attention to the pond and see if it can be brought back to a decent fishing pond. I cleared out most of the trees and brush on our section of the bank and dam. This week I spent an hour removing sticks, branches and fallen logs from the pond as far out as I could get with chest waders on. My goal would be to get the pond to where we could enjoy a little fishing, for ourselves and future grandkids. We go to a bigger lake for more serious fishing. This pond would just be for casting a line on evenings for pure relaxation.
Can the pond support fish in it's current condition? I have no idea what killed off the fish and if the water quality is good enough with all of the leaf litter. What can I do to improve the water quality if need be? As I mentioned it's a shared pond so I have some limited options. I don't believe either neighbor is interested in contributing to any major renovations. I am fine with doing all I can myself, with the understanding that not all of the pond is under my control. I guess at first I'm looking to do the minimum to get the pond to hold fish. Assuming that's even possible without a total rebuild. There are a few large cottonwoods growing on the dam, which I know isn't ideal.
I'd love any thoughts and pointers that might set me in the right direction. My initial thought was to just throw some fish in and see what happens, but then I found this forum and figured I'd get some better advice.
8"-10" of muck isn't much. Fish with a light line and small hook, live bait or small artificials. Water temp needs to be in the 60's or higher for the fish to be pretty active. Right after sunrise or right before sunset. If nothing shows up, then go ahead dbl check the water and throw some fish in there.
