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Joined: Jul 2010
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Hall of Fame 2014
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Originally Posted by FireIsHot
I would have also added a drought capable boat ramp.
yes i really wish I had a small concrete boat ramp
Overtons got stuck several years ago launching the electro boat
had to borrow a neighbor's tractor to get 'em out.


Fishing has never been about the fish....

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The only thing I would change is what I put in it fish wise. There ain’t no such thang as a perfect pond cause hindsight always jumps in.... purty much Like life itself

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I would have stocked larger lmb instead of 2" fingerlings for my first lmb stocking. I had low survival of the lmb fry. I think the CNBG and or RES along with the Tp ate the lmb fry. Would have been better off i think if my lmb fry would have been 3" instead of 2" fry. And i should have added the grass carp the first year of the pond.

Last edited by TGW1; 09/11/20 06:30 AM.

Do not judge me by the politicians in my City, State or Federal Government.


Tracy
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Read the article about your situation in the latest PB magazine, Tracy. You made logical decisions and they worked out well for years, but sometimes nature throws us a curve ball. Mild winters really seem to favor brushy pondweed. I'll add some grass carp this winter, hopefully they can keep things under control after knocking the weed back with herbicide a couple months ago.


7ac 2015 CNBG RES FHM 2016 TP FLMB 2017 NLMB GSH L 2018 TP & 70 HSB PK 2019 TP RBT 2020 TFS TP 25 HSB 250 F1,L,RBT -206 2021 TFS TP GSH L,-312 2022 GSH TP CR TFS RBT -234, 2023 BG TP TFS NLMB, -160




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Frank, the pond was a great place to fish and then the Bushy pondweed took off like crazy. Bob L. said to me "I bet it only took a few short weeks for it to take over the pond" He was so right. So at the time it seemed like just days. Today, I am just now starting to survey by fishing to see what gamefish fish I have left in the pond. I do have good numbers of bg up to 9" or better. I do have some lmb up to 3lbs but I think my lmb numbers are down. I have seen one hsb so far and it has a jig head in the corner of it's mouth from a breakoff from some kid back last spring. Not sure if it is the only one that survived. Now with all that i have learned I see where i can start back with a better plan because of what all i learned over the past 6 yrs.

Last edited by TGW1; 09/13/20 06:36 AM.

Do not judge me by the politicians in my City, State or Federal Government.


Tracy
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My pond was dug in 2016, I had been preparing for that for several years leading up to that time. Things I did right: 1. Read Pond Boss...I learned A LOT from here and applied many of those lessons to the buildout process. As a consequence, I am 97% happy with everything about that pond. It is a high quality resource that I greatly look forward to taking my grandson there on his first fishing trip, and many others. (He is 5 months old now...so soon. :))

2. I put in more structure in it than Carter has pills, much of it plastic/PVC, rock/concrete and timbers/root balls that will last for a LONG time. I think I have more structure in that thing than 99% of the ponds I know about. If anything, I would put more rock humps in, but $$'s limited me there some. Oh well, it's pretty good as is.

3. At the suggestion of the pond builder, I built it bigger and deeper than originally planned. I am very happy with that decision, although it did cost me more at the time, I have about 3/4 acre more surface water and A LOT more depth overall.

4. I put in the pilings for the three docks ahead of time, prior to filling. The main dock is an "L", about 8' wide, 20' long, with a 12' "spur". So plenty of dock and the pilings are old telephone poles, so very sturdy too.

5.

Things I would have done differently: 1. More rock...rock piles, humps with big rocks on top of them, more rock on the shoreline. That's about it...I am very happy with it and with you the best as you prepare to build yours.

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Steve_ Offline OP
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I've updated my original post to show a running tally of all of the responses so far. I hope people find it as useful as I have.


"In the age of information, ignorance is a choice." - Donny Miller
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I would have drained my entire pond dug out all the muck that I could and made the shore line a bit steeper, but that in a perfect world. LOL


The only difference between a rut and a Grave is the depth. So get up get out of that rut and get moving!! Time to work!!
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For me, these things:
0. Found Pond Boss first.
1. Went with the more expensive reputable pond builder, not cheaper hole digger. This would have meant a larger pond, less likely to leak, and would have been downhill a little more which may have had better water input.
2. Built a pivoting floating dock capable of 3' of water depth changes rather than a wishful thinking fixed dock.
3. Ladder stocked my fish, most notable the walleye should have been stocked maybe 5 at a time.
4. Skipped the black-crappie. They simply don't thrive in our waters.
5. Structure, though perch and BC don't seem to care about it as much as perhaps bass and BG.

If I had money to burn, I would drain the current pond, and enlarge it downhill like the original quote. I would guide the construction carefully, and make sure compaction was performed correctly. I would then build structure and re-stock all over again.

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My 0.15 acre pond was dug out of good clay in a flat spot, with the water level sitting about 2.5 feet below the existing grade.

My freeboard is just bare clay at a 2:1 slope, with nothing growing on it. I would have made the sides a bit less steep, and I would have immediately put down erosion mats to get grass growing before there was wave action to wash the topsoil away. I might have also put a bit of a shelf just above the water line, so that I can have topsoil right down to the water line, and then just straight clay below the waterline.

I also built a beach. It has been great, but is a little squishy underfoot in the water. I would have put down a layer of gravel first , almost like a shallow gravel parking lot, and then put the sand on top of this. I think this would make the beach feel more appealing to the average person.

Finally I wish I had some sort of “skimmer” to pull leaves and algae into one corner of the pond where I could easily remove it. Right now I wait for some wind and go around and manually remove floating organics with a rake. I wish I had a pump or something to pull all this organic material into a corner, where it could be easily removed. Almost like a pool skimmer.

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Ted wouldnt a fountain do that?


Im going to ask a lot of questions, but only because I'm clueless


5-20 Acres in Florida. Bass/Tilapia/Bowfin/Gator
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Steve_ Offline OP
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Yeah I think any aerator (fountain or diffused) creates a natural "up and away" motion that pushes floaty stuff to the shore. I'm sure you could position it so that it pushes everything to one corner, even though there's not that much shoreline in a 0.15 acre pond.


"In the age of information, ignorance is a choice." - Donny Miller
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If I could do one thing different, it would be to find Pond Boss magazine and this forum eight years ago! We dug our pond seven years ago, the the help from the magazine and all the great voices in this forum would have made our pond building life much easier and more fun. We enjoy our pond, but had to make mistakes to learn on our own. Great to be in this group! Thanks to all!


half-acre pond, LMB, HBG, BG, GSH and CC ....goal is to
have fun fishing. And I subscribe!
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Good question Steve_ and CityDad. I do have bottom aeration, right in the center. It does a decent job of pushing organics to the shore but not great - some inevitably stays floating outside my reach. The stuff that does make it to shore gets caught up in the rushes, which makes it harder to remove.

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