Attached are pictures of the fish I could catch in the creek. Don't know what they are. There are a few about 25% larger than the largest you see here but that's it.
- Dave 4.5 acre woodland pond constructed Feb 2011 - began fill Aug 25 - full pool Nov 18 - fish stocked Oct 25: 1200 Shellcracker; 3800 bluegill bream; 500 channel catfish May 2012: 500 LMB May 2012; 50 "permitted" sterile grass carp.
48" Riser and 36" barrel aluminum pipes being installed. Now we can dig the core through the creek after it is diverted into the barrel pipe. The upper 8" intake on the riser is to lower water level on the upper end of the pond in case I ever want to plant for duck hunting.
- Dave 4.5 acre woodland pond constructed Feb 2011 - began fill Aug 25 - full pool Nov 18 - fish stocked Oct 25: 1200 Shellcracker; 3800 bluegill bream; 500 channel catfish May 2012: 500 LMB May 2012; 50 "permitted" sterile grass carp.
Pond is now complete - just add water. We won't close off the 8" pipe to fill it up until ~ Aug/Sep so we'll plant it basically as a foodplot for wildlife. That means I have all Summer to tinker with structure, gravel beds, a dock, etc.
- Dave 4.5 acre woodland pond constructed Feb 2011 - began fill Aug 25 - full pool Nov 18 - fish stocked Oct 25: 1200 Shellcracker; 3800 bluegill bream; 500 channel catfish May 2012: 500 LMB May 2012; 50 "permitted" sterile grass carp.
Full pool was reached Nov 18. We stocked fish Oct 25. Due to the amount of flooded vegetation, we are seeing a fairly significant bloom right now with very clear water. This has been an awesome project.
- Dave 4.5 acre woodland pond constructed Feb 2011 - began fill Aug 25 - full pool Nov 18 - fish stocked Oct 25: 1200 Shellcracker; 3800 bluegill bream; 500 channel catfish May 2012: 500 LMB May 2012; 50 "permitted" sterile grass carp.
Wow, nice site and nice pond! I'm finding that once I have started participating in these forums that my 0.7 acres is getting smaller and smaller. ;-). Would be a heck of a lot of fun to get a 4.5 acre pond put together!
Thanks. It's been a blast. Looking forward to the next stage of "aqua-farming". One thing about it - you have to have a lot of patience. This ain't a "weekend project" with immediate reward/gratification like building a park bench. Now waiting until the Summer of 2013 to catch decent-sized fish is the next challenge. Guess I'll work on shooting frogs, turtles, and snakes in the meantime.
- Dave 4.5 acre woodland pond constructed Feb 2011 - began fill Aug 25 - full pool Nov 18 - fish stocked Oct 25: 1200 Shellcracker; 3800 bluegill bream; 500 channel catfish May 2012: 500 LMB May 2012; 50 "permitted" sterile grass carp.
She's settling in like a real pond now. Sat a.m. had more young wood ducks come in than I can count. Turkeys flew off of the roost along the length of the dam an grazed in the spillway area. Feeding the bream and catfish stocked in Oct and they're growing fast. Hatched wood ducks out of 4 different boxes. Totally screwed up my wildlife patterns for hunting, but I'll re-learn them and adjust. This is an awesome project.
- Dave 4.5 acre woodland pond constructed Feb 2011 - began fill Aug 25 - full pool Nov 18 - fish stocked Oct 25: 1200 Shellcracker; 3800 bluegill bream; 500 channel catfish May 2012: 500 LMB May 2012; 50 "permitted" sterile grass carp.
5" of rain w/in 36 hrs this week has me grateful I put the 4' intake pipe in! Looked like there was just ~ 12" in the center of the intake pipe that did not have water in it.
- Dave 4.5 acre woodland pond constructed Feb 2011 - began fill Aug 25 - full pool Nov 18 - fish stocked Oct 25: 1200 Shellcracker; 3800 bluegill bream; 500 channel catfish May 2012: 500 LMB May 2012; 50 "permitted" sterile grass carp.
You have a beautiful place there. I have the land cleared and they are suppose to start on my 7 acre pond this Wednesday. I hope that it turns out as well as your pond has. Have you started fishing it yet?
Essup, Is this the ant-vortex device you're referring to? There is no vortex as it flows into the pipe. This thing works great. No trash washes in, nor whirlpool effect. I'm glad I listened to the engineers in the size of the intake pipe needed!
Fish are biting well when the water settles after the 3"+ rain dumps we get.
Note: The 2nd pic is full pool level on the AVD.
Last edited by Kiko; 08/25/1302:33 PM.
- Dave 4.5 acre woodland pond constructed Feb 2011 - began fill Aug 25 - full pool Nov 18 - fish stocked Oct 25: 1200 Shellcracker; 3800 bluegill bream; 500 channel catfish May 2012: 500 LMB May 2012; 50 "permitted" sterile grass carp.
For the 2nd year we stocked rainbow trout. After catching one in July, we decided there may just be enough cool water to keep them alive. We had an extremely wet 2013 Summer, which may have helped. ~8-10 inches each at $1.50 I thought $40 was worth having something to play with this Winter. They;re fun to feed, catch, and eat. BTW - Nice article in the most recent issue of Pond Boss Magazine.
- Dave 4.5 acre woodland pond constructed Feb 2011 - began fill Aug 25 - full pool Nov 18 - fish stocked Oct 25: 1200 Shellcracker; 3800 bluegill bream; 500 channel catfish May 2012: 500 LMB May 2012; 50 "permitted" sterile grass carp.
Mine will really swallow the hooks too. I quickly switched to ones that led to a better survival chance. Sounds like you have a good deal on the price of the trout. Around here, bump that size up a bit and it costs 5.00 a piece.
- Dave 4.5 acre woodland pond constructed Feb 2011 - began fill Aug 25 - full pool Nov 18 - fish stocked Oct 25: 1200 Shellcracker; 3800 bluegill bream; 500 channel catfish May 2012: 500 LMB May 2012; 50 "permitted" sterile grass carp.
Here are photos 2 years after construction. As I stated earlier, a pond project requires patience. It's just like farming - there's a time to plant, time to harvest, and time to let it rest. It was cool to see the pond finally show up on satellite pics. While you think you may have something "private" - forget it. Anyone can see what you have on the "back 40" now with a smart-phone. A few dogs, signs, tripwires, and cameras never hurt in keeping punks away.
- Dave 4.5 acre woodland pond constructed Feb 2011 - began fill Aug 25 - full pool Nov 18 - fish stocked Oct 25: 1200 Shellcracker; 3800 bluegill bream; 500 channel catfish May 2012: 500 LMB May 2012; 50 "permitted" sterile grass carp.
The work and expense is paying off! The fish are decent catchable size now!
- Dave 4.5 acre woodland pond constructed Feb 2011 - began fill Aug 25 - full pool Nov 18 - fish stocked Oct 25: 1200 Shellcracker; 3800 bluegill bream; 500 channel catfish May 2012: 500 LMB May 2012; 50 "permitted" sterile grass carp.