Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations First spring trout in NE, and pond design pics

Well, the ice is all gone, temps are on the rise. The trout are starting to feed, and showing good surface activity. So I tried a little spinner after I got home from work today, and third cast I got this nice Brown shown below. Thanks to my Grandma fishing with me since I was a toddler, I can clean a trout ready for frying in under a minute. Which is what I did, and the thing was nothing but bones twenty minutes later.

I'm also including some pics of how I finished the edge of the pond. You'll also see the air compressor housing for bottom-diffuser aeration.

I used the field stones that are readily available. My Kubota L4310 and lots of summer saturdays and presto. I also added some pavers, to make a nice walkway between a large open firepit on one end and a covered pagoda on the other. The field stones go down to about three feet below the pond surface.

I built a step-down area from the walkway for fishing. And also put a big rock one small leap out from the edge-also for fishing. You see a nasty predator cormorant on that rock, so obviously it knew that it was a fishing rock.

I have a river nearby where I pump water to both a waterfall (not shown well) and also impact sprinklers to break up surface tension and clean up the surface of the water during hot summer days. The high-impact sprinkler heads are on the edge, but face over the pond. When dust and debris gather on the water, this cleans it up real nice. One of them is behind the fishing rock in the above photo.

I thought some of you may get some ideas from what I've done.

I'll leave you with this pic I took below. This is how I feel sometimes. Everything looks okay in front of me, but I'm making no progress, my feet just won't move, and I get this gnawing feeling in the pit of my stomach...

NE
Glad to see your trout are in good shape. That's a beautifully landscaped pond you've built. My pond is still 90% ice covered, hopefully will be clear by next weekend.

Mason,

That really looks nice! You put a lot of time into that pond and it shows!

Your pics reminds me of the New England I used to know. (Not sure if I told you but I lived 10 miles south of the New Hampshire line when I was a kid).

Three questions:

Are you sure your pond is 1/4th acre? Looks a little smaller in the picture although as we all know pictures can be deceiving. Smaller would be better for cooling.

The other question is are you related to the Kennedy's? You look a little like them.

Oh and how warm does the river get max temp in the summer?

Cecil, your eyes are well trained, as to the pond size. It is indeed less than a 1/4 acre. Roughly 120 x 70.

As for being related to the Kennedy family, nope. Maybe back a few generations (about 99% of europeans can claim King Edward III as their ancestor).

I have not measured the river temp during the summer, but I am certain that the temps are warm for trout. I've been out there in it, and it's likely in the 70s deg f.

Hey adirondack, let us know when you can start your own spring sampling! Post some pics.

Beautiful place NE, absolutely beautiful.

Pat yourself on the back for a job well done.Thats a view anyone would be proud of.
BTW,if it was me Id have to illiminate the snake.

Thanks NE Mason for posting the snake picture, that is only the second time I have ever seen a garter snake down a bullfrog feet first.

NE Mason,

That is some awesome landscaping. If you find yourself with a little spare time, I have lots of rocks -- and my property needs a heck of a lot of beautification.

It is interesting that you are just starting your trout season, and I am just ending mine. I figure I need to get the last of my trout out over this upcoming weekend. But, they sure have been fun. It hit 80 last Friday and Saturday. It will again this coming weekend, although it is supposed to go down into the 20s tonight.

Not the greatest eating when compared to big bluegill or catfish, but the thrill of the the trout's winter feeding, and the dances they do when caught -- priceless. I hope to get my wife's 82 year-old aunt and the grand children out this weekend to get the last of them out of the pond. My grandchildren (including my wife and me) really love feeding them.

I figure I've got between 20-24 remaining in the pond. They range between 11 and 15 inches -- just like the fish in these pictures. They didn't grow much since last October, but as said before, they sure have been fun. We'll miss them.

I've been taking out a couple each evening lately. I've been "butterflying" them and giving them to friends. Everybody seems to be glad to get them -- at least that is what they say.

WOW! on all pictures.

Catmandoo, those are some great looking trout. You could consider doing something with your fieldstones. I've developed quite an interest in working with them. My summer project this year is to make a dry stone arch bridge over a little creek running though our place. We'll see.

Interesting to hear your preference for the taste of bluegill and catfish. I love trout - but only if it's been eating right. As a kid growing up in the rockies, we could taste the difference between native trout from the high Uintas (eating freshwater shrimp, etc) and the planted hatchery trout. But now this latest silver cup variety feed is made in such a way that the flavor is real nice and the flesh is firm and pink.

Or maybe I just like trout! Haven't tasted bluegill, but I have indeed enjoyed some fantastic catfish filets.

All - thanks for the nice comments on the pond. I used this forum and all your own good experience for my pond education. I sometimes feel left out of the fun of raising LMB/BG/FHM ponds. But the art of living is enjoying what you have, not wishing for what you don't. Bluntly, I've got fieldstones wherever I put a shovel in the ground. So there you go.

NE Mason, forgive me for probably missing this earlier, but is your pond lined? And if so, with what?

Thank you.

Mason,

Yep maybe we're related. According to my aunt and her geneology research the Bairds came over from England in 1650 but the name was originally Beard changed to Baird because folks pronounced it wrong. Not sure what that was all about. LOL Even had an ancestor fight in the revolutionary war. A Tavern that was used in the 1700's for stagecoach stops called the Baird Tavern still exists in the Berkshires as a B&B, which was owned by one of my ancestors. Just one more boring fact: One of my ancestors had a tiff with his church because he went Shad seining on the Sabbath. My how things have changed!

Hey have you made a decision on the well yet? Being close to a river you should have plenty of ground water, and there's a strong possibility you may have artesion flow. I would research that if you haven't already. Artesian would mean no pumping necessary! I'd kill for that.

I think if you could have trout year around you'd be amazed at how big you can get them!

Bruce, the pond is not lined. I dug it from a springy, wet area that has seasonal flow. So there is plenty of clay. However, I did put in some weed barrier fabric along the edges - under the field stones down to about 3' below surface. And surrounded the cattails with weed barrier fabric, too. It was kind of a mess doing that, because I was working in a thick, soupy glop of clay. But I think it worked. It's been 4 years, and there's no propagation of the cattails by their roots. And the seed starts can't really find root against the fieldstones along the edges. This approach is perhaps not reasonable for the big ponds that many here on the PB forum have. But it may make sense for some of the smaller ponds that you want to integrate into landscaping, etc.

Also - making sure that I had a good plan for all electrical lines, potable water lines, river water lines, and irrigation (the impact sprinklers) was important.

Bruce, I've been following your Dad's Pond efforts. And read that you're putting in a waterfall. I'm doing something similar. I have the outflow from the river pump go to a little cascade, but I'm also using the natural wet/springy area above the cascade to work as a bog filter. Last year I put in a rugged submersible pump in the pond, and place the outflow about 100' above the pond. The discharge is intended to filter through a natural shallow declination filled with ferns, moss, etc. Basically all the natural growth of a New England wetland. I'm not sure how to measure the positive effects of that filter, if any, but the idea came straight off the PB forum. Even in summer dry times, I can fill from the river as well as run the bog filter.

Cecil, I remember that you were raised here in MA. That's great that you know your family history. Especially, about Shad seining on the Sabbath - you can claim your fishing/pond skills are inherited. My own family accuses me of having my Grandma's fishing gene. I think it's true.

Regarding the well, I talked to a well digging outfit familiar with the area. They think we could reasonable hope for about 20-25 gpm. Do you think that could cool things down in the summer in a smaller pond? (I read somewhere here that a pond in West Virginia mysteriously produced brook trout, and they discovered that a well line ran through the depths of the pond - and just that was enough) Would I still aerate? Any idea on monthly electricity usage by a pump running 24x7?

nemason..great thread, beautiful place obviously ALOT of hard work, and beautiful pics (you too catmandoo )

hey there mason, you sure you didnt steal my garter snake?



that was on my driveway a couple years ago.

a 20 to 25 gpm well (i.m insanely jealous) would definitely cool down a small pond. what's yer kilowatt hour price back there? ours is .12 to .20 depending on total usage.....the more you use, the more you pay i have a vertex system i figured runs about $15/month nights only.

Very nice place you've got there Mason. Didn't you mention in another post about seining the pond to see what trout you have left? Any updates on that?

Russ

Russ, yup! The seining is happening Saturday! I got a 'crew' coming over at 1pm... A friend, a few scouts, and maybe a dog and cat thrown in the mix. Plus a guy I know with a wet suit and scuba. Just to make sure there's no snags, whatever. Maybe put the boys on four wheelers, while we're setting up... To heighten the hysteria and increase the odds of unmitigated disaster. THAT's what makes it all fun.

I'm really curious to find out how many, how big, whether all the brookies were a bust, etc. I'll definitely capture the chaos on film.

DIED, great pic of that garter snake! Interesting coloring, it must generally match the color of the western soil/dirt? Growing up in the west, I remember desert rattlers in slick-rock country having an overall reddish tinge. That frog looks good and dead - before gettin' completely et. The one I show is still alive and frisky - while being consumed. Yech. Three cheers for us being the dominant species. Sorta.

I can live with $15 bucks a month for pump power - anywhere in that ballpark.

Mason,

When you talk about running a pump, do you mean well pump for water or air pump (compressor)? I believe DIED may be referring to a compressor for his vertex air system. I thought I read somewhere that Cecil was spending about $100/month to run water into his trout pond. DIED/Cecil, please correct me if i'm wrong.

Thanks

Russ

That makes sense. The other thread here on pumping ground water had figures of about $500 per month for a 7hp. And power rates here in New England are as high or higher than any other region. IIRC.

I won't need 7HP. But it gives me a rough swag.

DIED was assuming mason should aerate and was referring to the vertex piston air compressor costs.......and mason, that is only running it at night. 24/7 around here might well run 40/month or more (these damn baselines they put in electrical usage for "residential" properties chaps my hide).

pumping GW requires AMPS. AMPS = $$. you will not know what type of pump you need until you know the depth and production of the well. obviously you will want to design the pump system to efficiently draw from the aquifer using minimal horsepower to meet your objectives....as you have done or are doing, find out whats in the area for a start...neighbors, businesses, well drillers, the well drillers know better than most but not all are trustworthy (did i just say that?) get multiple opinions and the best of luck.

Great work on the pond Mason. Hope you don't mind... I saved your pics for ideas for a small pond project I'm planning this summer. If I can make mine look half as nice as yours I'll be thrilled.

Mason,

I'm surprised that you can only expect 25 gpm's or so in your area. You should have a good gravel deposit right next to the river. Typically ground water yields close to rivers are quite high. You may want to get a different opinion. My state has a log of wells drilled that you can search online if you know your township, range etc. grids. It tells you yields, what the strata consists of where the wells were drilled etc.

My electric bill is about $100.00 six to seven months of the year and I pump 24/7. And the power company is inching up the rates.



When you say "smaller pond" do you mean the one you have now or a smaller pond you may build? If you make a pond small enough yes you could grow out up to 240 lbs. of trout with 20 gpm of well water. (12 lbs. per gpm)

If you are talking about the persent pond it will be close. You may want to stick to browns as they alledgedly are more tolerant to warmer water. And I would do everything suggested to keep the water as cool as possible.

BTW my subersible well pump is only 2 horsepower and it yields about 45 gpm. Like I said though if by some chance your static well level is pretty high you could save a lot on electricity with a surface drawing pump. Don't be afraid to check with more than one well driller and ask a lot of questions. You may even want to talk to your trout supplier.