Well its been 8 years, but we finally had a pond put in. Just wanted to start a journal to show its progress.
We purchased 18 acres of farm fields next to our 78acres of hardwoods. The whole area is pretty moist in the spring, and hard to get on. We are going to let it revert back to nature. The area we put the pond in 1st couple before pics) was the lowest spot in the whole area. We were not sure if there was a spring or not. There was always water here, and the farmers never touched it. When the contractor was here and was way down deep (Aprox15ft) he started to hit some big flat boulders, so we decided to stop. He lined the whole pond in clay and replaced all the top soil all around. We did not find a spring, but after they left, you could see water leaching in al different level on the walls. It will primarily be a run off pond, and everything id graded to this point. We will see how much the water level drops this summer.

We will be adding on and making some shallow ends that will be 1-2ft deep for ducks and frogs and other critter as well as spawning areas. Just not sure until we see what the water levels are like.

So the pond was done being dug by Labor Day.

By the end of November it was half full, and by January it was overflowing.

That's a good sign, I think.

As of last weekend, it was still overflowing, and water is clearing up.

Any help or suggestions are very welcomed, I am new to this and really just flying by the seat of my pants.

I read as much as I can on here.

What size is the pond?
What, other than ducks and frogs, are your goals.

Sorry, we having trouble with pictures.

Well after this year, and we see how well it holds water, we are going to see if it will hold fish.

Probably just Bluegills at first. Someone suggested Catfish.

If it does hold water and stays at least 15ft deep by winter, we may try some Crappy or Largemouth Bass at some point.

Am I going to have to aerate this in the winter?

What can I do to have pictures show up.

Its is a lot easier to explain if I can show pics?

Thanks

If you put them on imgur then copy the url to here it works. It's free to download. I keep mine on hidden. Had some fella on there start talkin bout my 10 year old (at the time) daughter. That just bout set me over the edge. So now I just make sure and click hidden.

My opinion...Start with a forage base fathead minnows,shiners..etc...make sure to have some cover for them ...then decide what your other fish will be. It's best to have food in the fridge (pond) before you start putting in predator fish.

Well the pond is still looking good. Try the following links for pictures


https://ibb.co/C7XRYmZ
https://ibb.co/ZdYX9cV
https://ibb.co/hcFyQvb
https://ibb.co/SP079Xf

Let me know if this works.

Thanks