Hello from Lafayette, LA!

Bought a house in 2017 with a 1-acre pond in the backyard. I've been trying to dry out the 35-40 year old pond since late September which was pretty well silted/mucked in - probably 2-4ft of water and 3-4ft of silt/muck. Will be reworking it deeper, a little smaller, and with better grading of the sides. Heard about Pond Boss a few weeks back from a friend in the area, subscribed, ordered Just Add Water and Perfect Pond. Unfortunately I haven't been able to read any of that because I'm in India for work - 2 weeks down, 2-4 more weeks to go. So I'm soaking up what I can on the forum and FB Live recordings.

Big questions now are about soil suitability, bulkhead replacement, and minimizing dirt removal. Looking forward to swimming and fishing when it all gets done! I've got two kids and another on the way, and we're looking forward to some fun times ahead!

I posted already in the "Renovating a Pond or Lake" section of the forum with some questions if you have any wisdom for me.
Pond Renovation Questions in S. Louisiana

Welcome Kris. That boy is the best reason to have a pond.

That's most of the reason why I bought the house - I said, our kids are going to have a BLAST here!

By the way, looks we used to be neighbors - I grew up in Keller, right around the corner from Hurst. Been in Lafayette for about 7 years now, just starting to get over the culture shock

Culture shock!!?? Whachu talkin bout Kris?? LOL

They always told me about guys who came here for work, got married, had kids moved down the street from the in-laws, and stayed for life. I thought, "here???" These people will eat anything that moves!

Yet, 7 years later, here I am, married to a girl who grew up here, with a third kid on the way, two houses down from my in-laws! And sad to be missing out on some Good Friday crawfish boils tomorrow.

But culture shock, coming from North Texas, yes! Ha

Welcome aboard Kris. That boy will be having lots of fun down by the pond. We will be looking forward to those updates. Good Luck with your pond.

Crawfish are always nice but the owl and egret boudin is unforgettable.

Sounds like I have some more learning to do.

Say bud..you need to get you sum dat nutria sausage too. Sau ces bon!!

I'll bring the beer and boudin if you can teach me about nutria sausage and what you've learned about maintaining a pond in our area!

Nutria sausage has become hard to come by unless you know how to make your own. Not like you can go down to the local Market Basket and just grab a pound (they make a dang good deer and jalapeno tho). Beer and boudin smoked on the grill would make for a good afternoon sitting on the porch and talking pond tho!!

I'm afraid what I've learned about maintaining a pond may not fill a tablespoon, but I can definitely discuss mistakes and lessons learned.