Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Creating habitat Help

I am a boy scout and am almost an eagle scout, and I am starting to plan my eagle project. I want to renovate the two run off/storm water management ponds that both hold stable, healthy populations of Largemouth bass and bluegill. I was wondering if you guys could help me and give me some advice. Here is my plan right now:

Project description: The goal of this project is to improve the conditions of the ponds in the Olney Mill family park and create structure and plant flowers and trees around the ponds to enhance the appearance of the pond. The structure that will be planted for the fish and animals that inhabit the 2 ponds in the park and will provide them with better conditions to live in.

Who will benefit: The Olney mill residents will benefit from this project. The Maryland Department of natural resources will also benefit because they are the ones responsible and are the care takers for the pond. This will enhance the appeal of the pond also which will benefit both the home owners association and the Olney mill residents.

Present conditions of the ponds: At this time the fish that inhabit the pond have very little structure to occupy and inhabit. Right now the only sort of cover the fish have to inhabit is the aquatic grass that grows in the pond from late spring to late fall, but once winter arrives all the grass is gone and there is no structure for the fish. Around the pond the grass is over grown and there are no trees or bushes around the pond for the animals such as foxes, rabbits, and birds to inhabit.


Plans for the ponds: I plan to have artificial structure, such as artificial trees made from scrap PVC pipe that will provide a place for the populations of bass and bluegill to live, hide, and feed which will be built and constructed by myself and the people that volunteer for this project. I also plan on sinking an Artificial stump field for the fish in the pond to use and I also plan on constructing Artificial Christmas trees to place in one of the ponds, which will be constructed by scrap wood and lumber and scrap PVC pipe. I also plan on possibly sinking one to two evergreen trees in the deeper parts of the two ponds. I also plan on planting different types of non-invasive aquatic grasses in the two ponds at different deoths to suit the needs of the largemouth bass population.

Local Government Compliance Issues: There may be a need of getting a permit in order to place the Evergreen trees in the two ponds.




Materials needed:
6, 5 gallon plastic buckets………………….. $14.04 (Home Depot)
40 LB Sakrete Concrete Mix……………………$4.28 (Ron's Home and Hardware)
JM Eagle Schedule 40, 3/4 in. x 10 ft. PVC Plain End……………..$40 (Home depot)
7 bricks, Oldcastle 7-3/4 in. x 2-1/4 in. x 3-3/4 in. Concrete Brick ……………………$2.87 (Home Depot)
Dead Evergreen trees………………………… Donations
5 spools of 20 pound Monofilament………………………..Donations
Stimson Lumber Co 2 In. x 2 In. x 8 Ft. Furring Strip………………$5.28 (Home depot)
Rocks……………………………. Donations
Plate sized stones……………………………Donations
Pea sized gravel…………………………….
Tools:
Jon boat (Any size)……………… Donation
Hammers
Screw drivers
Screws
Shovels

Plants:
Hyacinths
Water celery
Wild rice
Eelgrass

Also, The pond was built in 1969 as a stormwater management pond. The biggest bass that I have caught during the 10 years I have fished the pond was a 3.25 pound Largemouth bass. There is a strong, very strong blue gill population, but I was thinking of adding a few pounds of fathead minnows, is this a good idea. I am applying for a grant from the Chesapeake bay trust to finance this eagle project. I want to create small rock piles in the deeper parts of the pond for the bass. The deepest part of the pond is up to 6 1/2 feet deep and has murky water. All the bass in the pond are in the 10 to 13 inches long. The pond was never actually "stocked" I was told by a neighbor that an old man used to catch bass from the potomac river and put them in the pond. My goals for the ponds are to:

(1). Expand the population of bass and have a healthy population of bass
(2). Grow bigger bass in this pond
(3.) Create a Diverse food chain for the bluegill and bass in this pond/
(4). Create structure for the bass to inhabit and feel safe in

Hey 123 Excellent project choice and well thought out plan. Welcome! You picked the perfect site for this worthy project.

This is awesome! Wait for the experts to weigh in, but I think adding minnows would only result in them being a quick snack for the existing fish in the pond. Great idea and keep us updated! And as FFF said, we love pics!

What baitfish species do you think would do best in this pond? I just sent an email to the Fisheries department at the Maryland DNR about someone coming out to the two ponds and doing a population study on the largemouth bass populations in the two ponds

What are your goals for the ponds? If you stated this, I apologize. I'm reading and posting from my phone. Most likely more bluegill will be suggested. And removing bass. If I read your words above correctly.

It's going to be tough to get baitfish established in a pond with well established predators. If you've caught 3+ pound LMB out of there, getting baitfish to take hold is going to be a seriously difficult situation. Not necessarily impossible, but difficult, especially without habitat for them to hide in and avoid predation.

You raise a lot of great issues and it sounds like there is going to need to be a good bit of thought go into the answers. Sit tight and wait for feedback - as the others have said, this is the place to get the answers you need to move the project forward with the greatest chance of success.

By the way, best of luck on the project! I did mine about 26 years ago and have always been glad I earned the Eagle rank. And remember, it's never "I WAS an Eagle Scout." It's always "I AM an Eagle Scout!"

There is a nice bluegill population in the pond. Also, I have attached some photos of the bass i have caught from the pond. The 3 pounder i caught from the one pond was caught during last June's ble gill spawn. The population of both bass and baitfish used to be stronger but a serious drought hit the pond in the summer of 2008

From the look of the water in the first picture, it looks like you've got some issues with filamentous algae (FA) and possibly another surface weed such as watermeal or duckweed. Those things usually come about as a result of an excessive nutrient load in the water. That can come from a number of sources including runoff from fertilized areas and also from waste (poop) from heavy goose traffic. Those are just a couple of sources - there are many that can impact nutrient levels. Is providing a plan for control of aquatic vegetation a part of your project (I don't recall seeing it stated in there, but just curious if you've given that some consideration).

It did come to mind, and it is duckweed and it takes over the shallows in the summer and dies off in the fall. The problem is I don't know what to do about it, Would grass carp help at all? A few years ago, maybe 4 years ago it got so bad the whole pond was coverd with duckweed and all you could hear were the "popping" sounds of bluegill. It usually just surrounds the sides of the and thats where its the thickest

Hey 123 Looks like the first thing you are going to have to consider is improving water quality. Some of the guys here are real experts and will help you with that. You probably won't need to add any forage to this pond, it seems from your posts that these ponds are already heavy with BG. Might consider taking a bunch of them out, probably some of the small LMB too.
Thats a good looking fish in pic#1...rubber worm? Also always always hold a fish sideways and as far out towards the camera as you possibly can...old tip from the T.V. fisherman!

Are you sure it's duckweed and not watermeal? They're similar, but WM is much, much smaller - kind of like grains of cornmeal. I don't know too much about duckweed, but watermeal, along with just about every other aquatic plant in the pond, would likely be eliminated with a fluoridone based product like Whitecap or the others that use it as the active ingredient. If done early enough in the season and in the right dosage amounts to maintain the required ppm concentration, fluoridone will pretty readily keep things under control for several months.

Grass carp will not eat either DW or WM, so don't waste resources trying that approach. Both are target food sources for tilapia, but tilapia are likely only 5 - 6 month fish in your area as most strains will die off around 55 degrees or so. Blue tilapia are a bit more cold hardy and can survive down to around 45 degrees. They all reproduce like crazy, providing a great food source for the young fish and as they slow down as the temps drop, the larger ones become food for your big predators in the pond. The right concentration of tilapia in terms of pounds per acre could potentially have a solid impact on the surface vegetation while also adding to your food chain, but tilapia will be an annual stocking in order to maintain their impact.

Thanks for the idea, maybe part of project can be taking out the bluegill, I will talk to the Fisheries management officer that comes to do the population study how many bluegill I should take out and how many smaller bass I should take out. To my knowledge there are know crawfish in the pond. The ponds are a little less than an acre. I think the bluegill population is a little too big and there is not bass big enough in the pond to eat the larger, adult blue gill. The main grass in the pond is elodea, to my knowledge

Share the fisheries guy's opinions with us when you get his findings. Might be interesting to see what he recommends. Craws won't likely have a big impact, I think. LMB will eat them, but they aren't the real backbone of their food chain.

My main goal is to have this pond produce largemouth bass that are 6 pounds plus in at least one of the two ponds, but I do think adding structure and more habitat and structure will help. There aren't many bass in this pond that are bigger than 18 inches, the 3 pounder I caught there was 18 inches, most of the bass are 14 inches or smaller

At this pond I have had 150 blegill days

123 Not to overcomplicate what will be a fun and rewarding project, but I guess this is a community pond? You really need to control or at the very least know who is fishing there? how often? what kind of fish are they catching and how many? do they release them or keep them ?etc

Is this a public lake? Is there anyway to regulate what fish are kept and thrown back. It'll be tough to get good population when someone comes in after a year of your work and takes home 30 of your 2-3lb bass. I think is one of the main things people overlook, you gotta know when to keep and know when to release..

FFF howd you sneak that in before me..

The 2 ponds are in a neighborhood park, a few people fish them with their kids, and many of my friends do to, but no one keeps any of the bass or bluegill to my knowledge, I was thinking of having a sign made and telling them about the project and suggest the catch and release concept to them, I have seen different adults take their younger kids fishing for bluegill at the ponds. But to answer your question, most people, including myself, do not keep any of the fish they catch.

I dont know if youll have a lake that is stacked full of 6lbs+ bass, some yes, some bigger yeah. Structure is good but i really dont think its going to translate to bigger fish. You need a correct ratio of predator prey to grow fish, Fish have to eat to grow and there has to be something for them to eat all the time and the right size of food to grow big..

All I really want to do is to increase the size of the bass in the pond, whether they hit 6 pounds, i don't care. I think the problem is that the bass don't have the right sized food, they have food, but not the right sized food

Lake regulations would be good and something that might be possible through the city board, A sign making people aware of the project is good, And the lakes dont necessarily need to be catch and release you wanna remove some fish so you need quanity limits and size limits..

When I officially get the project approved by the board and get it started I will look into having signs put up around the pond. Also, how do you figure out how many bluegill need to be taken out?

Once you get the survey youll be able to tell exactly what needs done. But you will never have big bass if some Joe Shmoe comes in one day and takes out 50 of your biggest bass. I would make one pond for panfish and one for bass. The bass pond is gonna need some structure and good bedding areas for fish to breed and grow to good eating size..