Pond Boss Forums INTRO New Forum Member Introduction New member trying to buy a pond

ok.. here's a snippet from the GA DNR page on constructing a sportfishing pond:

The pond should be constructed with properly sloping sides and minimum depth of 3 feet. The slope ratio recommended along the shoreline in most areas of the state is 2:1. The pond need not average more than 4 to 6 feet deep.

I don't like that advice.

I didn't say I like it.. but it did surprise me.. coming from the DNR site and all..

The weather pattern has changed in the last 10 years, more rain in some areas, less in others. That might have been written during a wet period. Even the USDA has changed their plant hardiness zone map in the past few years.

3:1 is walkable to the water level, but not if it's wet or slippery. 2:1 is "you better not have something in your hands - you'll need them to help get you back up the slope"

I'm looking at re-contouring a couple of ponds, and the owner isn't comfortable with anything greater than 5:1 due to the fluctuating water levels. The water can drop 3 to 4 feet during the year, and walking on the previously under water soil is impossible with a greater slope.

good to know.. thanks esshup

Maybe in GA we can get away with shallower waters because we never ice over. We might get a little crust for a day or two once a year during an extreme cold spell but we never have solid ice covering the whole surface. I don't know if that's the reason but, I'm guessing it might be.

Still, I'm shocked that we didn't have a fish kill last year when our pond dropped over 6' during the drought and our deepest holes are only 9' at full pool. Everyday we expected to see dead fish but, when the water came back, it was like nothing ever happened. All the different year classes were there - big ones and little ones. I feel like we dodged a bullet, though.

This year we've raised the water level 18" (we have a drain box with a shutter system) to get ready for another drought - we've already lost 3' from full pool but we've been getting some rain lately.

We're still in the process of buying this property. It's been a long road, but may be closing on it this week.

I thought of something I failed to mention in any of the previous posts with regards to the pond being shallow.

In the pictures, which is basically the same as the pond looks right now, it does look shallow.. however, the water level is about 5-6 feet below the dam.. so theoretically, the water you see now, if the pond was full could be 8+ feet deep..

I don't know if there is a leak or it's just low because of the severe drought we're in.

We met an old farmer who lives down the road, 92 years old if I remember correctly. We asked him if he knew anything about the pond and he said "the clay hole?" So apparently it's clay.. not surprising as this whole area is mostly clay. I got a US topo map of the area:

Well.. the land is ours.. closing was today.. AND I was able to talk to the last guy who worked on the pond. the pond is 8ft deep.. the reason the dam had to be repaired 2 years ago was beavers... LOTS of beavers.. they were doing some clean-up with an excavator and they fell through the dam before they realized it was full of tunnels...

So there's a pretty good chance that it's leaking now due to beavers..

Congrats rrambo!
Thanks for the aerial outline of your property.
Looks like a really neat piece.
Keep us updated...it's all about the journey!

Thanks Zep! It was good to talk to the guy today who worked on the pond last. At least I know a little more about it.

Looks like I've some beavers to deal with

Yeah rrambo the previous owner of my property killed a couple of beavers.

I have yet to see any beavers or see any signs of their shenanigans.

Others know much more about trapping beavers,
but this trap looks pretty good to me, easy/safe to set, & not that expensive.

Beaver Trap Video

AdvanceTrapWebSite

So we haven't really had a chance to spend much time on the property since we closed on it this past Friday. It is/was really grown up so I got a friend to go do some bush hogging.

He just called me and said he was done but told me not to drive around the back of the pond because the tractor fell through in 2 places!

!@#$%^&*&^%$ BEAVERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Beavers or Muskrats, they will cause some of the same problems, just a difference in scale. Both will make dens in the bank, both can ruin a dam. Bank beavers can be trapped exactly like muskrats, just a larger conibear trap is needed.

Break thru a 'rat run and you might sprain an ankle. Do the same in a beaver run and you might break your leg.

Beavers.. they've been seen.. BIG holes.. almost didn't get the tractor out..

I'm thinking several 330 conibears for when I'm not there and my rifle for when I AM.

Yep! Or shotgun with large birdshot #6 or larger.

Stake the conibears good, and if the run is larger than the trap, make a funnel from dead sticks (they might think fresh sticks are there to eat) - narrowing down the run so they have to go thru the center of the trap. You can even use a thin diameter metal rod thru the trap on one side to keep it upright. (say 1/4" dia)

Thanks for the advice brother.

Rambo,
Congrats on your land purchase! I'm trying to do the same thing in middle GA. Check your PMs.

Glad to hear you folks buying property. You listen to the gloom of the news and looks like nothings going right!
Rambo,Keep us posted on your beaver progress. We mostly deal with muskrats around here, but beavers are coming back in areas close by.

I'll try to take some pics of the beaver damage as soon as I can.. I'm declaring war on those critters..