Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Creating habitat 15 acre lake filling up fast, need some ideas***

Started construction on the lake about a year ago, we dammed up a creek and the old creek bottom ranges from 45’ to 20’ as you go up stream.

We have place large boulder piles scattered everywhere. Shown on the map as brown spots and in the pictures.

We also have places an old Cadillac on top of a bolder pile which will be around 10 feet under the waters surface.

Before it fills I am going to try to scatter cedar trees tied down to cinder blocks, and also dig “trenches” and fill them with rocks from the edges to boulder piles and from boulder piles to the deepest part depicted in dark blue.

I was also thinking of spreading pea gravel on the shallower parts to the left of the image.

Any information will be greatly appreciated as I am meeting with a worker on Tuesday to give him detailed instructions.

MAP


Deepest part, rock piles at 45'


Rock piles around 20-10 feet deep:


Rock piles in less than 5 feet:


Possible trenches and submerged timber locations on map:



Any recommendations would be of great help... Let me know! Thanks.

I recommend you call me to go fishing when its finished that looks awesome!

Personally, even as cool as it sounds, I'd get the Cadi out of there if any part that had grease and or oil is still on it or it will likey repel fish.

Other than the Cadi...AWESOME!!!

Planning to aerate or feed?

Its a just the body, no engine or oil or anything, and its been outside rusting for 50 years. Fish will be fine. The water should be pretty clear so we were hoping it would be visible.

I'll continue to post pictures but need to get ideas for major structure (cedar trees and pea gavel for spawning)projects to do over the next few months before it is full.

You Lucky DUCK!! Bait fish, Forage fish, get them started, they will settle in the rocks and make it hard for the big fish to totally eliminate.

What are you putting in for game fish?? Bass and BG?? That size of a lake and that deep you could have options. I bet the next post will suggest Hybrid Striped Bass!!

Right next to the road are you worried about people poaching it??

Where at in texas? Next to shad, Tilapia seem to be a big forage fish in that area. I like golden shiners and fat heads are a stapple! People say fatheads dont last but if there is cover they will.

Stay away from the big cats like blues and flatheads, unless you want to make it a prodomidantly huge catfish pond with no other big fish.

and feed the fish if you can, fish food. Its not that expensive, and the fish love it??

what you you doing for a dock? Spillway? Swimming area??

sounds like your doing a strictly fish dam? But what type of fish are you targeting?

Who are you working with on dam construction and pond developement??

Keep us posted.

Very cool project you got going there. So what are the goals? That would definitely help determine structure type and placement.

Filling up fast? That's a problem a lot of people on this site would like to have.

Sounds like you got a "Cadillac" of a pond going.
Is that the name of the lake...."Lake Cadillac"?
Can you provide any current pictures?

I plan on doing bass to start with. I put 4 nice sized bass(3-5 pounders from another tank) 1 month ago when the water might have amounted to an acre. Now the water amounts to 3-4 with all the rain lately.

The lake has major structure already with 10 foot drop offs, and boulder piles 8 feet tall placed all over. Although big structure is good, I need to make sure there is small structure throughout the shallower parts(less than 10 feet).

I need to get the structure ready for bait fish and start stocking.

4 bass? put any snacks in for them? It is wise to stock in predetermined sizes for a really good start to the fishery. You may want to try catching those bass or they may well eat a LOT of what you eventually stock and leave you fighting an uphill management battle form the start.

Old Creek bed (2 months ago)


Cadi (2 months ago, water is now up to up to the pillars supporting the cadi:


Big view

Is the dog permanant to the lake?? hehe

I am going to try and put cedar trees connected to cinder blocks, forming big piles in different areas, and pea gravel around them and in the shallows this week.

I plan on stocking tilapia and shad in the coming weeks. I plan on stocking enough to where those 4 bass have no chance at effecting the population. Then stocking bass in or so a year. Let me know if I should do otherwise

Wow that water is really clear.
You may be able to scuba when full?

Really looking great.

I've always thought a stack of various
sized concrete pipe would be good.
Looks like ya got some of that under Cadi.


Keep us updated with reports and pics.

You don't need big piles of cedar. I just cut and drag a couple of them into shallow water. The cadi will certainly attract fish but might turn into an eyesore if/when the water recedes.

That's going to be a beautiful lake! To stock Threadfin, you normally want to have a good bloom going, and stock them before they lay their eggs in the Spring. You get more bang for the buck then. Get the forage base established before stocking any more LMB. Each one could eat more than 10# of forage per LMB. Look into Coppernose Bluegills and Redears too.

Look in the archives. There are a few threads on structure and cover, with lots of pictures. You'll probably get some ideas from there. IIRC Bob Lusk said 20% of surface acreage in cover/structure for a fishing pond. Just make sure that none is placed where anyone jumping in to swim would land on it.

Your forage base for the LMB could be BG, CNBG, THS, RES, GSH.

Any thoughts to stocking Florida strain LMB?

One thing you may want to still consider is to plant all the pool and surrounding areas with some annual ryegrass to minimize erosion as the lake fills and to provide an early nutrient base for your fish.

I would NOT suggest stocking any tilapia yet unless you start getting filamentous algae problems...in year one, they could do more harm than help. First off, there will be no plant life for them to eat so they will target your forage base, plus, nothing will be large enough to eat the offspring 2-3 weeks after being released by the female and will die off uneaten in the fall to rot. Year 2 maybe 5 pounds per acre depending on vegetation growth., year 3...knock yourself out with tilapia stocking numbers if going for big bass.

Get some 4x4 posts in the pond bottom to mount wood duck boxes or for other uses yer to be determined - but inevitable need.

I am also recommending you try to remove those 4 bass you stocked if possible. People are often in a rush to get their pond started and what little you may gain by stocking "nice bass", is soon taken over by unbalanced issues later. Your lake is big enough that their effect may be limited compared to a smaller body of water but I am still afraid they will cause issues. just think how many fish just those 4 bass could eat. Most people stock 2"-4" fish. That size fish will be readily consumed by bass that size. They'll be able to eat hundreds of fish that size in a year...

If you have the kind of money to build a lake like that, you may want to give Bob Lusk or another trusted fisheries biologist a call and have him help you get off to a good start. The small amount of money in comparison to he cost of building such a body of water will be well worth it!

That sounds like a great idea... I am going to look into that.



Thanks for the advise, sounds good. I talked to a stocker today and he suggested:
50lbs Fathead Minnows
5000 Small Coppernose Bluegill
1000 Small Redear Sunfish

But I almost want to put more in just in case those four bass do some damage to the population. What do you think?

I am taking your advise and calling Todd Overton of Overton Fisheries, Inc. and scheduling an onsite consultation this week.

Any more feedback is much appreciated!

Common stocking numbers are 10 lbs. of fatheads per acre, 1000 Bluegill per acre, and 100-200 Redear per acre so those numbers are a little light. Most people stock forage in the spring and bass around may or june. If you waited a year to stock the bass those number would be good.



Thats a great start.

See the structure archive for ideas, pics and text.

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=92463#Post92463

Thanks Grainflow for the call and email today. I was scratching my head too, why stock a few adult bass early on before stocking forage? If you stocked a male and a female then they are likely spawning right now and you will have a lake loaded with little bass fry before you know it with very few natural predators (other than mommy and daddy bass).

My stocking suggestions today, as copied above, are for what you could carry in your truck bed, not fully sufficient to stock 15 acres of water however.

Not the end of the world but if you are going to go to all the trouble and spend all the money to build a fabulous lake then it only makes sense to research basic stocking procedures first.

Give me a call tomorrow.