Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Creating habitat New pond help

Hello I am new to the forum. I am in the planning stages of a pond for the ranch. I am wanting to have a fun fishing pond with largemouth and bluegill for the kids and I. We are not looking for trophy fish or anything just some fun. We also do not want to feed if possible. I had priced out a half acre pond but in researching it seems i need a full surface acre pond to have a healthy bass pond. I am hoping to hear from some of you more experienced people as to your thoughts in a small bass pond. Around here in south Texas I have fished in small ponds with nice bass but I definitely don’t want to be unsuccessful. If I need a bigger pond I will just have to wait. Also how deep would it need to be here in south Texas. Thanks in advance.

Welcome aboard Rey. I'm not going to pretend I can answer your question beings it's in south TX, but a half acre can be a bass pond, just may not be quite what you are looking for, management wise.
Good management plans upfront could make this work if you're willing to stay as close to the recommendations as you can. Some pretty sharp Tx folks here, I'm too far north to offer good advice. Those most familiar with your area will be along shortly!

Welcome to the forum! You know how easily bass get hook shy, so the smaller the pond, the less fish it can hold. Therefore you will be catching the individual bass more often and educating them faster.

Make the pond as deep as the soil conditions allow. Think of a deep pond as a savings account. The deeper the better especially when the rainfall stops and evaporation starts.

Thank you all. The reason I asked on the depth was because it looks like it may max out around 6 feet the way the clay is here. We had a sample hole dug out. My biggest fear is that I don’t know who to hire to do this. I have people telling me they can do them but they don’t really seem to have much experience with building actual ponds. I was burned years ago on a small pond at our old deer lease by a guy who moved earth for a living but not ponds. I can find good healthy stock easily it’s the build

Mike Otto. Look in PB resource guide, hit "pondboss" and resource guide will be one of the options listed in pond building..and...he's in Texas.
Here:
https://www.pondboss.com/Resources?lid=75&lci=9