Been debating if I "need" another pond. One more thing to chase geese away from, more to mow, yada, yada, yada. I needed some dirt to raise the level on my old pond so I used a ravine to get some good clay. Well that pretty well destroyed it for any other use............... so why not build a pond?
Pictures below of the start of construction. This was actually done several days ago (internet has been out here). I'm a lot further along than these pictures but will get some more tomorrow.
The plan is to create a RES only pond. Will be stocking only FHM and RES. If they over populate two or three years down the road, will consider a predator at that point. Maybe some HSB. Or if I could find a commercial source for fingerlings some spotted bass. But that will be later only if needed.
Thought I would shoot for about a half acre to maybe up to an acre. After laying it out with the laser level and flagging the water line where I could make maximum use of the ravine, I think it will be closer to 1.5 acres. Which means a lot more dirt to move than I originally anticipated. Since all my help is out actually making a living harvesting soybeans, it will all be up to me to get it completed.
Pictures below of the beginning showing building the core of the dam.
Caught three RES in a row out of this pond late afternoon the other day. Was pleasantly surprised. Not big ones. I think the biggest was 6".
Watched today just before lunch a number of RES males on nests in less than a foot of water. A smaller female was bouncing around from nest to nest. She finally picked one and her and the male went round and round spawning circling within the confines of the nest.
Not only did my forage pond spawn a bunch of new RES babies but this RES/SMB pond must have had a great spawn too.
Have been seeing some baby 2-3" long SMB in a shallow area I drive across with my UTV. So I'm thinking, I'll trap a few of those small bass and move them to my sediment pond to grow out. So I put a couple traps in the water, checked them a little while later and not a single bass but look what was trapped. Loads of 1-2" RES. That is the only sunfish in this pond other than the one lone BG male I put in this summer. So presumably some could be RESxBG hybrids. But based on how many I trapped out of my forage pond (that only has pure RES for sure) I am pretty sure these are mostly if not all RES.
I have trapped a half dozen batches like the one in the picture. Transferred them to my sediment pond, main pond and old pond to reinforce the RES populations there. Most will probably get eaten (except in the forage pond which has few if any predators currently) but a few will surely survive.
Have yet to get one of the numerous SMB fry to go into the traps but do get a few gams.