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I am currently in the early stages of building a 2 acre pond in Livingston County, MO. I grew up on a farm and witnessed the building of a couple ponds and loved it. Now I am building one for my family just beyond our backyard. I will be doing all the work myself. I have access to the equipment to do it and plan to post additional videos of the progress. Ponds are awesome. Drones are awesome. Large equipment is awesome. It doesn't get much better than a combination of the 3 if you ask me! I have learned so much from this site and thought I would share in my process in hopes that it will help others that are potentially tackling the same project or just want to see some cool drone footage. The pond should push 2 acres and be near 20 feet deep. I have plans to put an island in an area where there is a natural hump. My largest concern is limestone rock. We hit some pretty big individual rocks (1 ton+) while putting in our geothermal system in the construction of our house (this area is just south and east of the pond location). As you can see from the video (4:40 mark or so), there are tons of ponds nearby. Let me know what you think and any tips would be welcomed. I will try to post more soon (I'm a school teacher and it gets dark pretty quick this time of year so we will see how it goes). Most of the trees were dead or dying elms and black/honey locust. I had the time before the equipment was available, so I decided to cut the trees out for firewood, etc. I am hoping to send some of the black locust to the sawmill for lumber to build the dock. Again, we will see how this develops.

Here's the video link. If you computer can handle it, crank up the quality and enjoy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6UG38HuNaM&t=186s

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pretty neat!


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Cool video. I have to admit, I watched it thinking I might have hunted or fished around there in the past. My father in law used to teach and then ran the adult Ed at the vo-tech school in Chillicothe. In 1977 when I was dating his daughter, he took me fishing in several ponds around Chillicothe. Plus he had English setters, and he took me quail hunting on several farms around Chillicothe also. Sadly he passed away several years ago. My mother in-law still lives there, but I've only hunted around there a few times in the last several years, and haven't fished around there in more than 15 years. He sure got me hooked on farm pond fishing, and I wanted my own pond ever since.
Thanks to the guys here, I'm pretty happy with the results of our pond build two years ago.
Don't know if you are going to follow the typical Missouri stocking plan of BG, LMB, and CC, or something different. I decided on RES, YP, SMB, and HSB for my stocking plan. We ate another 20 YP this weekend. Caught while taking a break from the deer hunt.

Welcome to the forum, by the way. I'm looking forward to following along on your construction.


9 yr old pond, 1 ac, 15' deep.
RES, YP, GS, FHM (no longer), HBG (going away), SMB, and HSB (only one seen in 5 yrs) Restocked HSB (2020) Have seen one of these.
I think that's about all I should put in my little pond.
Otter attack in 2023
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SetterGuy, how are you liking your stocking plan? I was debating on what I wanted. I think it would be awesome to have SMB! Are you catching any that have size to them? Let me know your thoughts.

You very well could have been out near this place. I grew up on a farm about 15 minutes east of Trenton, but we built our house about 7 miles west of Chillicothe.

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So far, I'm very happy I went the way I did. We really like eating fish, and YP are delicious. I probably caught 12 SMB this summer (all released) and they are great fighters, but won't get as large as LMB. I'm fine with that. I did put some HBG in so that no matter the time of day or year, the grandkids could catch something. They are fun on a fly rod for sure. The only downside to them is they are like piranha when you are swimming. I'm hoping they don't reproduce much, and stop biting people when they get bigger. You are a lot closer to Lincoln NE than I am TJ, here on the forum is pretty much an expert on this stocking plan, and occasionally has a extra fish or two to sell. I got most of my fish from Rainman here on the forum also, he has access to any fish, and knows a lot about all things pond related. Hopefully those guys will see this thread and chime in.


9 yr old pond, 1 ac, 15' deep.
RES, YP, GS, FHM (no longer), HBG (going away), SMB, and HSB (only one seen in 5 yrs) Restocked HSB (2020) Have seen one of these.
I think that's about all I should put in my little pond.
Otter attack in 2023
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I am leaning toward a plan like yours as long as it is financially feasible. smile I don't want to do SMB if they only get to a pound or two. Any shot some of yours will reach the 3-4 pound mark? Will they readily reproduce in a 2 acre pond with 18-20 feet of water? I should be able to provide some rocky structure for them as well. I am also intrigued by a forage pond. I was wondering what people's thoughts on how small I can make it and if this would provide me a continual supply of FHM and crawdads etc.?

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Here's another big question I have. Winter is quickly approaching in North Missouri. If I don't get started soon I could be in trouble. I can't build a dam and compact it if the ground is freezing on a regular basis can I? Will I just have to wait until spring?

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I hope the SMB guys jump in here, and some construction experts.
I am thinking my SMB will get to 3-4 pounds. I hope so. I also hope they reproduce. I dumped a lot of 8" rock in, and built gravel beds on top of that.


9 yr old pond, 1 ac, 15' deep.
RES, YP, GS, FHM (no longer), HBG (going away), SMB, and HSB (only one seen in 5 yrs) Restocked HSB (2020) Have seen one of these.
I think that's about all I should put in my little pond.
Otter attack in 2023
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Setter- how old are your SMB and what size now? I would think SMB could reach 3-4 lbs , especially if pellet feed and/or adequate forage base...would just take more time than LMB.
I am planning on doing a SMB, YP, HSB, HBG pond (currently being built as I type)


I Subscribe!
3/4 Acre Pond: HSB,SMB,YP,HBG,RES
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My SMB were introduced 10/10/15. 60 ea 4-8". (I never see how they get the measurements they do..)


October 6th this year. I did not measure, but if I had to guess, I'd say easy 10".



I've still got large schools of FHM. I'm catching a few GSH that are 5-6", so I think they have spawned. My feeder works over 50% of the time, but I'm only running 20 seconds a day when it's running. (50#s of feed lasts a month.) It's gone in seconds when it works.


9 yr old pond, 1 ac, 15' deep.
RES, YP, GS, FHM (no longer), HBG (going away), SMB, and HSB (only one seen in 5 yrs) Restocked HSB (2020) Have seen one of these.
I think that's about all I should put in my little pond.
Otter attack in 2023
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Here is the next video in the process. All the trees have been cut out. I moved a line that was going to interfere as well. I've burned quite a bit of brush and have TONS of logs to push around once the bulldozer arrives. Really glad to have the trees cut and most of the brush piled. It was a lot of work doing it all myself while having a full-time job (especially since daylight savings kicked in). The plan is to have the track hoe here in the next week or two to rip out the rest of the larger stumps. Hope you comment and enjoy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQjynu_dAW0&feature=youtu.be

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Good documentation - keep up the good efforts and reporting. With proper population management of wise harvest, always lots of forage food and some pellet feeding you should be able to grow smallmouth to 5 lbs in MO. Don't let them get too crowded which results in not enough food to keep the big ones growing well. Ideally you should get 1.5"-2" of grow on adults per year. A 5 lb smallie is around 20" at 5-6 yrs in the pond starting with 5"-7" pellet trained SMB.

Last edited by Bill Cody; 11/28/16 11:57 AM.

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Bill,

Thanks for the encouragement. I'm really excited about the prospect of a SMB pond. I have been talking a bit with Rainman as well. I'm leaning toward SMB, HSB, and HBG with GoldenS and FHM as my forage species. What are your thoughts on this setup? I would really like to have at least some Bluegill in the pond for my kids to enjoy, but don't want them to compete with the SMB or become overpopulated. I have heard and read on here that SMB and HSB are a good combination. I'm a bit skeptical but I'm really inexperienced in this department. Also, I would like to get more information about a forage pond to provide a continual supply of FHM and GoldenS. I could pretty easily create a 1/4 acre pond with about 8-10 of water. Anyone know if this would be successful? It would be great to be able to just go seine out some forage species a few times a year to provide an extra boost. I am also interested in looking into crawdads. Any thoughts/opinions would be appreciated. I will hopefully have more progress to post in the coming weeks.

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I can't decide which I a more jealous of... The DJI P4 or the pond big enough for SMB. I just started with ponds and drones. Sooooooo much fun.


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I'm really glad the experts have jumped in here. Great advice from them. I second TJ's comments above about YP. They are great eating, and easy to fillet. Once I found out how to catch them, they are pretty easy for grandkids to catch. (Spring and fall)
The last video looks good. Lots of progress.
Also, I overstocked on the FHM, and they are still present 15 months after stocking SMB, and HSB. Almost 20 months since stocking YP and RES. My GSH are doing well also.


9 yr old pond, 1 ac, 15' deep.
RES, YP, GS, FHM (no longer), HBG (going away), SMB, and HSB (only one seen in 5 yrs) Restocked HSB (2020) Have seen one of these.
I think that's about all I should put in my little pond.
Otter attack in 2023
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Thanks for all the advice guys. I know I am a long way off from needing fish, but I want to get my ducks in a row and am hoping things move pretty quickly once the equipment becomes available.

I have read through a lot of posts on here and some things have been answered here and there, so forgive me if I ask a question that has already been addressed.

1. I fully understand that there is a carrying capacity for my body of water. Can someone explain why SMB and HSB are a good combination? I am concerned that there will be a ton of competition for food between the two species.

2. Fish species in the lineup so far are SMB,HSB,HBG, and 2 forage fish (mulling around YP and/or a few WE). What stocking rates would be recommended? Again the plans are to get somewhere between 1.8-2.0 acres of water.

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The smallmouth and HSB work okay together better than HSB with LMB. TJ covered the main co-habitation relationship. LMB will produce too many offspring that put too heavy predation on the forage often making forage a limiting food. HSB will tend to feed on different items with a strong pellet consumption compared to SMB. You will have to harvest manage the smallies to keep predation pressure limited so forage is always present.

Small forage ponds of 0.1 to 0.2 ac work well to provide additional forage whenever you have time to harvest and move it.


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This all sounds good to me. I'm soaking all the information in!

So I could easily just settle for SMB and HBG and just overwhelm the pond with forage and be really successful? What about replacing the HSB with WE? I'm thinking the WE won't reproduce just like the HSB and will be about as competitive for food. Will the WE decimate my HBG population? Just a thought.


I could very easily create a couple .15 acre forage ponds for FHM and/or GSH (I think that's the abbreviation for golden shiners). My hope is that I could dig them, let them fill, stock them, and not have to do much to them other than take fish out of them every once in a while. I simply won't have the time to devote to giving a ton of care for them. Can I still be successful with this approach?

Also, once I start feeding with pellets am I locked in to doing this for eternity? Just looking at this from a limited budget.

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The track hoe was dropped off yesterday and I started pulling the bigger stumps. The top 3-4" of ground is already frozen and it makes it difficult to get a lot of the dirt off the root ball. I should get close to getting the rest of them pulled tonight after work. I plan to do a video with my drone once the stumps are out. I'm becoming increasingly worried about the amount of rock that I'm encountering. In nearly every area sampled, just beneath the black dirt is a layer of rock anywhere from 3-8" thick. It's been pretty easy to bring up and there seems to be pretty good clay underneath. In one spot I dug down about 6' and got into some black material that looks like some type of shale. I guess we will find out once I get the black dirt stripped. Hopefully I don't end up with a dry pit and divorced! The forecast for the weekend is -3 with a high of 12. Stuff is going to get more difficult soon and it looks like best case scenario that I will get the area cleaned of all debris and the black dirt pushed off before waiting for spring to build the dam. I'll keep you updated.

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Nice videos and it's good to learn about stuff along with you s252101! I'll keep watching...


Snort Coffee is a podcast about goofy stuff. Hope to add ponding to my list of hobbies.
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Tim,
Doing it right the first time is the best way to do it.

And now I "need" a drone......Thanks for that!

You can take any advise from Bill and TJ to the bank. Bill is one of the best, and TJ is not far behind.


Brian

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Thanks Brian, I was beginning to suspect my advice got wedged in the new member spam folder again.


Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after. ~ Henry David Thoreau

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S252102. I had rock all through the clay when we dug our pond. It definitely added to the stress. So far so good. I've got a small leak, I guess. Losing 1/4" a day, if I could get any rain in NE Missouri, I wouldn't care at all. I sure don't remember seeing many dry ponds around Chillicothe. I will bet that yours will be fine. This weeeknd is going to be crazy cold. I was going to go quail hunting, but I hate to bust up covies, when it's in single digits.
TJ, your advice and recommendations have helped me immensely.. Don't stop! Ha!


9 yr old pond, 1 ac, 15' deep.
RES, YP, GS, FHM (no longer), HBG (going away), SMB, and HSB (only one seen in 5 yrs) Restocked HSB (2020) Have seen one of these.
I think that's about all I should put in my little pond.
Otter attack in 2023
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It's funny in a way, I've related that amount of information to a client and was paid $75/hr plus travel costs [$1/mile] - and I'm cheap as it's not my primary profession. I think Lusk charges $1,000-$1,500/day plus travel - and he's worth every dime. Bottom line, direction is hard earned through years of expensive trial and error/ intensive research and is exceedingly valuable - it's discouraging when one doesn't get an acknowledgement, let alone a "thank you" after several days. Etiquette apparently is a thing of the past - yet another reason why I no rarely visit/post on the forum these days.


Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after. ~ Henry David Thoreau

[Linked Image from i1261.photobucket.com]


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It's hard to believe I started this post over 2 years ago. I got really busy, waited on equipment forever, and it got really dry, but I've finally got a pond that is near full. I have several pictures of construction, stories of successes and failures from along the way and plan to update and share on here to help others thinking about tackling the same project, or if nothing else, for cheap entertainment! Trust me, it's been a roller coaster of a project. Looking forward to sharing, moving forward, and learning more.

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