I was looking at some property that had a small man made pond. I only looked at the pond for a few minutes but it appeared as if the pond hasn't been maintained for quite some time. There was a well and some equipment near the pond. I've attached some poor cell phone photos below. I will try to replace them with decent pictures next chance I can.
I would like to put some fish in a pond if possible but it's not required. I'd be happy with a small frog pond if that's what it should be. I wish I knew the depth here but I don't or how it's lined, etc.
Can I get some opinions on this pond. It seems to me I would need to stick some $$$ into it to get it to the state it should be in. Any idea what I should budget for or other issues?
To get an idea on depth, you can use a slip bobber with a heavy weight on it. Keep casting and adjusting the bobber until it doesn't sink. That's the easiest way that I know of without putting in a boat.
It looks like a naturally wet area. Is there a stream nearby that might overflow into the pond in high rain events? What does the property owner have to say about the pond?
Budget all depends on your goals. What would you like to do with the pond?
That 1/10 acre estimate seems about right based on aerial photography. I'll have to do some checking into the depth.
My goals here with fish I guess would be different than most of you guys who have larger ponds. What I'd be looking at is tossing some panfish in there so my kids can do a bit of fishing (and have the fish hopefully not die, but not necessarily reproduce). If that's unrealistic based on depth, I'd just like something for my son to go frog hunting plus a bit of scenery.
The land is not wet down there. I wouldn't call it wetland. There is apparently a well down there (it's in the first photo), which I'm assuming is keeping it filled. I would prefer that the pond be a bit cleaner than it appears now and hopefully have it maintain itself. I guess I'm looking for an idea of what sort of maintenance is required. Also, any way I can tell if it's naturally lined with clay or has a liner? This pond is 40 years old also.
I haven't talked to the owner at all. There are layers of realtors buffering any interaction.
In regards to the well, you should find out (thru the realtor) what the GPM of the well is, the last time it was run, if it still runs and the water qualtiy (if possible). In this market, I'm sure that the realtor would jump thru hoops to get you any requested information.
Look at the surrounding soil. Is it clay? Then look at a sample of the pond bottom (it might be under numerous feet of muck)to see if it matches the surrounding soil.
With all the trees in the area, I'd think there was a substantial amount of muck on the pond bottom, unless it was cleaned out recently - was it?
I doubt that you will have fish survive thru the winter if the pond going into winter is less than 6' deep for 50% of the pond area. I had a pond that was 7' deep in one hole, but shallower than that for most of it, and I had a severe winter kill.
Ideally, for fish to overwinter on a consistent basis, you'd need 8' to 10' depths over 50% of the pond if you don't have an aerator going. If you had an aerator in 4' of water for the winter, you could get away with less depth.
With that said, I made my pond 22' deep, and it filled back in to 18' depth the first Fall (too much rain too quick washed a lot of soil back into the pond).
it looks quiet i like that. i see a lot of potential here myself. a day with a pump, another day or so with a trackhoe and this place could look pretty vibrant. and if that well works good gpm wise and water quality wise it would make one more big plus in my books. essup is right the realtors should do cartwheels for you if he was tryin to buy one of the subdivision lots i co-own i'd try to do one and i'm rather large.
Assuming the pond is able to avoid winter-kills, it does have some potential as a panfish pond. You wouldn't want reproducing Bluegill or Largemouth in there, the population would get out of whack fast.
I have personal experience with a pond in Texas about 1/10 acre, maybe 7' deep that was bucket-stocked with Green Sunfish and a single Largemouth Bass. It was a decent place to go and catch a few GSF every now and again.
There are a few things you can do to control winter-kill: cut trees to give the pond a good southern exposure, deepen it, clear snow in the winter, run a small aerator.
This pond may or may not be worth it, hard to say over the internet. If you're looking at multiple properties, you might just want to look for one with a larger, deeper pond.
I had my pond done this spring by a company out of central wi. I think they were fairly reasonable. Let me know if you want a their number. A small pond like that should be less than $2500.
They brought in a 70' track hoe and an offroad dump truck and had to do some pretty crazy stuff. (like building a road to my island and placing the hoe on the island to dig the rest of pond, then digging the island out on there way out)
Thanks for all the info. This land was the only land I was interested in with a pond. I was looking for some red flags that might be present which I didn't hear. I will likely be updating with more info later once I have it. Thanks again!
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