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I live in a lake region in Southern Maine where fishing is big all year long. This winter the supply of shiners is low while the demand is high for the fishermen. I have begun to trap my own shiners to sell at my business (convenience store) and want to build a 20 ft pond in my backyard to stock them all year long. I have no plans to stock anything else in it. I have an abutter in back of me from which I need to stay 12 ft from the property line, according to local code. DEP has no requirements. Has anyone done this and can give me some advice on how to go about this? I appreciate all the help I can get! I found this website while trying to research it on my own and think this contains great information. I'll be sure to be passing this onto my friends

There's no reason you can't use a 20 foot pond as a holding pond. If you plan to stockpile fish, be sure there's no vegetation in it. Several reasons for this suggestion. First, most shiners spawn on rooted aquatic plants, and you will end up with many undersized babies. Second, if you ever want to seine the pond, vegetation gets in the way. Plan to aerate, too.
Design your pond where you can wade from the shoreline, but try to get the slope as close to 3 to 1 as possible.