Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Renovating a Pond or Lake? Want to expand existing pond for fish...

Let me preface this by saying I know NOTHING about ponds, other than they are supposed to hold water.

I am buying some property, and one of the things we want to do on it is have a pond for fishing. Currently, doing a detailed inspection of the propterty (it is decently sized) we (and the realtor for that matter) were suprised to find a small exsisting pond.

The pond is more mudhole than pond, it looks to be a couple of feet below where the pool is "supposed" to be, I would guess there's no more than a foot of water at the deepest part of it.

The current pond is located at the end of a sloping open area, and the dam is where where the land naturally drops off into the confluence of a couple of draws. Elevation drop in the area is about 80 feet from the top of the sloping area to the bottom of the draw. I would guess the top of the damn is 30 feet from the bottom of the draw.

What I was wondering was the feasiblity of enlarging this pond into something usable for a fish pond (North Missouri, the local MU Extension office recommends 15 foot minimum for ponds with fish, and they emphasize that 25 feet is much better than 15 feet.

By pushing the damn back another 50-60 feet and scooping the current area out, I would think this would be possible... but I have no idea if what I am thinking IS workable (obviously, I will hire a contractor that knows what he/she is doing for any actual dirtwork).

Thoughts? Suggestions?

Below is a picture of the current "pond" as it now sits. I would guess it's about 30ft by 60ft. The damn is on the left of the picture.

BTW all the trampling of the cattails seems to be from deer... the tracks are exceedingly thick around the pond.

Salty: Welcome to the forum. Some real experts will post shortly with comments. I live in Illinois and was surprised at the depths Missouri is recommending. My 3 acre, 50 year old pond, is about 20 feet deep. It was about 24 when it was built but has filled in some. I have never heard of recommendations that deep.

Welcome Salty!! I too live in Missouri and am wondering where the depth information originated...As far as I knew, the state suggests only a minimum 8 foot depth. Any deeper, and without aeration, the added depth is often wasted, deadly poisonous water in our area. If aerated properly, northern Missouri waters can be surprisingly productive!

A HUGE word of caution on finding a "dirt mover"! Most in our area can clear a field with impressive speed and precision, but when it comes to building a pond, they are lucky IF it holds water! Contact your local county NRCS agent at the area USDA office. That person will come out and evaluate your land and the best ones will personally supervise/direct the construction. The agents are not allowed to suggest builders, but are often happy to share with you who they would hire to build their own pond....ask them properly...lol

What part of the state are you in? We have a couple good consultants that contribute here.

I add the caution because my 3.5 acre pond only cost $4800 to build.....and over $30,000 to repair!!!

Rainman's example of his pond cost to build and to repair are a great reason for why you contact the people he suggested for advice. Rainman had his pond built before he found Pond Boss and would have likely done it differently if he had found PB first.

Thanks for the advice.

I found out from a pond specialist in the extension system that the person I was talking to was... ummm... not a pond specialist (let me put it the nice way, and that 10 feet is a perfectly deep enough pond in my area.

After talking to a contractor friend of mine (who doesn't actually work in the area the pond in question is, so he gave me strait-up advice and estimates) he said that I might want to consider just leaving the old pond as it is as a nice wildlife area and building new, due to the layout of the property (the pond is in rather an unusual spot as far as drainage goes).

I will be meeting with the local extension folks and the local USDA folks, as well as some contractors (pond, excavation for a basement, septic system, etc.) so it will be interesting to see what they say as well. I am in NO rush... I learned a long time ago to measure twice, cut once.

Creating new, if you have the luxury of the amount of land and location preference, in my opinion is always a better option than cleaning out an old pond.

Voice of experience talking here. Cleaning out the old stuff can be done, but it will likely be more expensive than building new. In the case of my son's and my daughters two ponds, their location in relation to their house and other considerations made the best option to clean out.

But I have built new and cleaned out old ponds (I'm a farmer with some construction equipment and being semi-retired have some time on my hands - I'm not a professional). I can tell you, given the choice, I'll always choose building new. It is a lot more fun and a lot less head aches.