Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Selecting a site New Pond

Hey all, I am trying to get some plans together to build myself a pond on some of the family land and I have no idea where to start. I want to have bass, catfish, and bream in the pond and it will be a fishing and swimming lake. Also it will be supplied water from a water well and I was thinking of creating a stream to where the water input starts and haveing a large deep pool before the lake for swimming and then then a concrete dam for over flow to run into the lake. I am looking for size of lake, what fish and how many, any vital information that can be provided.

It sounds like you're off to a good start.

Well, the size of the lake is generally dictated by the "lay of the land", so to speak. Watershed area and precipitation patterns are a couple of the variables to look at, as well as soil type. The National Soil Conservation Service (NRCS) should be able to help you there. There should be a local office near you.

Fish species to stock is also determined by the size of the lake. It sounds like you are going to have one larger than an acre, so a bass/bluegill/catfish mix would be a good standard choice. Stocking rates will vary based on whether or not you will feed or fertilize, as well as where you are in Texas.

You will likely get a lot of good advice. However, hiring private lake manager to guide you through the lake building process would be a good idea. The sponsor of this fine site would be an excellent choice, and there are others as well. If you are "hands-on", you will have lots of fun managing a lake that was built correctly the first time.

How is the size of the pond determined, is it the surface area or the area of the lake as a hole???

Normally it is determined by the surface area. If you go to my website you can download the pond building guide it is full of information. I also have construction views from when I had my pond dug last year. Bob

Matt, Fishman is right about contacting the NRCS and hiring someone to do it right. If you want to learn something about the subject prior to hiring someone, go to the Ultimate Outdoors Links Page at www.gon.com/links.htm. Select the area on State Wildlife Management Agencies and start reading. A lot of states are represented with a lot of pond building, stocking and management recommendations.

Matt, Let me improve on the link I gave you. That one takes a lot of digging. Try these also. www.griffin.peachnet.edu.ga/habersham. This one is from Habersham County in Georgia. Select "Regional Sportfishing Ponds".

Another one is from the Texas Chapter of the America Fisheries Society at www.sdafs.org/tcafs/manuals/pond/ponds. There you can download a 300kb article on designing, constructing, stocking, and managing ponds.

Another one is from Mississippi State University at www.msucares.com. From there, select Wildlife and Fisheries, then farm ponds.

There are a lot more. Follow some links and you will find that a lot of State Universities and Colleges have researched and published information.

My number one bit of advice would be to subscribe to Pond Boss Magazine. A lot of articles there cover things that I have been too ignorant to ask about and have absolutely saved my butt. Next, buy the book, "Raising Trophy Bass". After reading it, you will understand what the word "holistic" really means and just how indispensible the concept is in pond management. Go back and read all of the past posts on this web site. Oh yeah, read everything Bill Cody says about three times. It sometimes takes that many times to understand but is absolutely worth the time.

I know this an older thread but I thought I might attach a link that has been very helpful to me.

TWRA