Pond Boss Forums INTRO New Forum Member Introduction Hello from Southern Illinois

Hello everyone. Been ghosting this site now for about a week. Just realized I should register so i can also ask my questions that have probably been answered 100xs already : )

So much useful information. I have been reading like crazy.


Planning on digging a small pond. Typical BG LMB combo. Plus watering hole for the pair of cows I will be having.

Welcome. Remember - you dig a hole and you build a pond. A leaky pond will be a continual headache and BIG expense trying to fix the leak/s. Just ask anyone with a leaky pond. Hire a good contractor with good experience. Check his references and look at past ponds that he has built. Compact the not too thick lifts well with a sheepsfoot roller and a double barrel roller is better than a single rooler. A bulldozer is not a good packing tool. If they say it is, look for another contractor because thay is why they have sheepsfoot rollers as packing tools. Proper dirt mositure is important for good compaction.

Keep the cows out of the pond. They will ruin the embankments. Pump water to the cows.

I have heard the same thing. It has got to be a multi-purpose pond though. My land just isn't large enough to support everything that I want to accomplish.

Can you direct me or link me a thread to something similar to what I am looking for.

Basically 1/4 acre pond. Hand feeding is doable. Have a 5 yr old son. BG LMB. Starting from grass to finish. I am not looking for trophy fish. Just a pond that if I am wanting some fish to fry I can go toss a line and eat my fill. As low maintenance as possible of course.
From what I have read I am gaining the basic knowlege. STart out with feeder fish and move on to BG then fingerling bass.

My dad used to be an oilfield guy around here and knows someone that is well skilled in pond building.

+2 on keeping the cows out of the pond. Even if you can pump water into a 100 gallon livestock watering tank that would make the pond so much nicer.

Ok so I will attempt to keep the cattle out of the pond. Attempt being the key word. This is basically going to be a farm pond and with the help of this site do a whole lot better than the average farm pond for fish-ability.

Any suggestions on keeping the cows out when they will be fenced into a 2 acre area with 1/4 of it being pond?

I could really use some specific links to the info I am looking for. I can read this site for months and continue to learn. But need something quick to go along with it so I can start formulating a serious game plan.

Electric fence with a solar fence charger for around the pond should do it. The cows will muddy the water, walking in it. They will contribute to the nutrient load by their waste going into the pond. If you can put a buffer strip of plants around the pond to keep cow waste laden water run-off from going into the pond, so much the better. A little wouldn't be bad, but do you really want to be eating fish from the pond if a lot of waste goes into it? Just saying..............

I've seen solar fence chargers on e-bay for $70 that are supposed to work on a couple of miles of fence.

No one thread per se, just lots of threads with the same (or basically the same) recommendations.

Build a small pier on the pond with a "cattle guard" built into the pier so you don't have to keep disconnecting and connecting the fence to access the pond. If the "cattle guard" is far enough back from the water line, you can walk around the pond inside the fence.

Manure-rainfall runoff into the pond will cause lots of algae growth and probably not the algae that is beneficial. That will be lots of extra work or chemical to keep it decent. If you get the pond built by fall let it fill or almost full and stock fathead minnows in spring 2013 and then BG and bass in fall. In the meantime ask questions, read, and learn. Consider HBG and pellet trained LMB and a few 5-10 HSB as a fishery.

Good advice, but the most important item in a dam is proper soil (Clay) for the core trench . Hire someone who is a soil specialist to check the construction person. Cities and states require a civil engineer to watch them, but this will quadruple the cost. USDA people can be helpful.

I have grown up with farm ponds all of my life. These ponds were used to water cattle. From the way it is sounding these 2 farm ponds I grew up with were a fluke. Almost clear water. Talking 2 ft easily viewed water. No management at all. Hard telling how deep they were. Not a lot of big fish. But that was due to no management or feeding at all.

I guess I am trying to recapture my youth in this home project. Cows pond chickens dogs nice big vegetable garden. I will keep reading for sure and see what I can do to fix my issues of land utilization.

Too many resource sites to read and reread for what time I have in the day lol.