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.