Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations New lake owner, almost

Hello everyone, I am new to the forum and want to complement you on what a nice group of people and great source of information you have here. As an introduction I am Mark and presently have an offer pending on a piece of property that includes a lake. Being new to lake ownership I have made the offer contingent on the lake being evaluated by a lake management professional. There in lie my questions.

As background the property is 32 acres, heavily wooded with a mix of pine and hardwood and what is described as a 5 –6 acre lake in N. W. Georgia. The owners describe the lake as being built over 30 years ago, spring and run off feed, bass and brim fish population, 20' deep at the dam. During our last 4 years of drought conditions the lake is said to never have dropped more than a foot. I had an opportunity to view the lake recently after unusual rains that produced more than 8" in two days. The water level seemed to be up 2+ feet covering the standpipe,(hope that is the right term) the spill way had come into play with little or no erosion, the water shed area had drained well and the lake stayed well with in its banks.

Where your help would be valued is what do I ask a lake manage company to do. My present thoughts are to ask for a determination of size and water volume, a dam inspection, water quality analysis, electroshock to determined fish population and condition, vegetation growth evaluation and a written report. Is there anything else you would recommend to get an accurate base line on the condition of the lake and population?

I apologize for being long winded and appreciate any input you can offer a beginner. Also I would like to thank one of your members, Fishman, who has been a friend on another forum for his advice and recommending Pond Boss to me.

MarkV

Mark,

As an owner of a lake management company I would say you have been doing some homework. thats a very good thing, there are many in this business that take advantage of the uneducated.

the only thing I noticed is you did not talk about your goals for the pond. What types of fish do you want to catch? keep in mind you cant have it all, meaning there is no way to manage a pond for trophy bass and trophy bluegill. you can have a nice mix but once you establish a population of big bass you can count on the larger bluegill becoming food items.

I would expand your calculation of water volume into a calculation of retention time. Retention time is calculated by determining how much water is in the pond, then determining how much water if flowing out of the pond. With these numbers you can figure out how long it takes for the entire pond volume to flow out of the pond. (how much water is retained in the pond over a 30 day period) If the total volume of water contained in the pond flows out of the pond in less than 30 days then fertilizing the pond will be difficult.

As far as you water qualtiy analysis goes the cheapest and most accurate way to get it done is through your county Extension Service. They send the water to a test lab at Univ. of Georgia. They can do any test there you want and its far less expensive than a private lab. The portable test kits are OK and will get you in the ballpark but I prefer the lab results. basic pond test through extension are $12, the most I have spend there for testing is $100

I say this because one of the common pond management scams I come across is the water testing. More specificly the lying about alkalinity and hardness. Here in Georgia most ponds need lime as a general rule. There are still many ponds that dont need lime. If you add lime to a pond that does not need it nothing happens, except the pond company makes some money. by testing your water through the county you get accurate, unbias results. If your pond needs lime the water report will tell you. then you have an ace up your sleeve, if a contractor tells you that you need lime but your report tells you differently you know to find another contractor. I have won several clients over the years because I told the truth about their water quality, and they knew it.

hope this helps

Shan,

Thank you for the input it has been helpful. I was unaware of the "retention time" calculation but do understand how that could be important for fertilizing and liming. My understanding is that the spring feed to the lake, though not on the property, flows most all year so I will add that to my list. I will also heed your advice on the water testing.

Of course I should have included our goals for the lake in my original post. After all, it is hard to recommend a car to someone if you don't know how many people they need to carry. We are not sure at this point what we would like to see in the long run. I have not been much a fisherman in the past but with a lake at your back door who knows. Our immediate goal was to determine whether there were any existing problems and to establish a base line of information from which to make future management decisions.

Thank you for taking the time to share your expertise.

MarkV

Mark, it sounds like the pond has not been managed for years. It is probably out of balance. If it was me I would mostly worry about the dam. If you buy the property and want a quality fishing pond count on money being spent.

Good news, Shan and another poster Greg Grimes can do all the things yoou need to have a quality pond. Both are in our area and are DAWGS!

Mark,
Glad to see you have the smarts to get a baseleine before haphazard stocking. This will save you time and money in the longrun in the management of the lake. We try to answer most all of your questions you posted when we do out complete lake audit. Water quality parameter most important for your pond is in my opinion alkalinity and the county extension $12 test does not do this unless requested.

I live in Ball Ground and will be doing a job in Chickamauga on wed eve so in the area of the new pond fairly often. My website is listed under my profile as it is for Shan. I look forward to you getting your questions answered by a professional. Let us know if we can be of service.
Greg