Building And Stocking A Pond
A good pond is more than just a hole in the ground! Here are some things to consider when building a pond on your property. Brought to you by the experts of country living, http://www.ProgressiveFarmer.com and sponsored by John Deere. We know more about living in the country than anyone.
Step 1: Meet Dan and Terry:
Hi! I'm Dan Miller, Senior Editor with Progressive Farmer magazine. Today, with the help of our pond expert, Terry Goldsby of Aquaservices, we're going to walk you through the essentials of building a great pond. Whether it be the design of the pond or stocking fish, Terry is going to walk us through the dos and the don'ts of building a pond, whether it's an existing pond or a new pond that supports fish. That's right, Dan. You know, so many people in the country have ponds or build ponds for recreational purposes. There are simple things to do, yet highly crucial things to do before you ever stock the first fish. We have a lot to cover, so let's get going.
Step 2: Building a Levee:
So, Terry, what's the best size pond for bass? You know, Dan, there's no real set size, but anything about under an acre is difficult to manage, so we like to see them in at least the two to three acre range. I don't see any cattails around this pond. No, there are none here, and sometimes the vegetation can get really weedy. Cattail is one of those, so we kind of stay away from that. On this particular pond, we're going to raise the water level, both for aesthetic purposes, and at the same time, when we build this berm or sometimes called a levee, we're going to cover these aeration pipes. We'll do this by taking some of this dirt and simply spreading it over the top and continuing around the pond. We'll use good compactable dirt. Hey Terry! I hear the slope of the pond's edge is important.
Step 3: A steep slope:
Can you explain why? I can. What you want is a fairly steep slope, like we have here. This is probably a three to one slope and as it carries into the water, past the water's edge, it continues that slope down to bottom elevation. By getting deep in a hurry, it prevents weed growth in the future.Dan, when you're considering building a pond or a lake, one of the most important things is your water source and the flow in and out of your pond. Here we've devised an indirect water source, which is this existing drainage ditch, and by building a dam on this ditch, we're allowing water to go in and out through these pipes, which can control the water on the other side in the pond. Why is that important? Well, it's important to control your water because it can control weeds and algae that come into the pond, you can control wild fish, and you can control nutrients that stay in your pond. Here's a new use for an old water bottle. We're using it as a rain gadge. It's helpful after a rain event to know how much that rain makes your pond rise.
Step 4: Combatting evaporation:
Well, Terry, I understand evaporation can cause big problems for your pond. It really can, Dan. You can lose about 12 gallons per minute per acre each day, and that can amount to about 15,000 gallons off of every acre. So what do you do for water? We like to have an alternative water source, like a well. Once you've completed the physical construction of your pond, then it's time to think about creating a healthy habitat for your fish. Terry, we're standing out here with rocks and we're standing on top of gravel. What's this all for? Dan, before we filled the pond, we made this square of rocks; filled it with pea gravel. It's about a 10 x 10 square. This makes an excellent spawning bed for the reproduction of bluegill and shellcracker. Hey, Terry, what have we got here? Dan, this is a bottom-placed aeration system. We put these in ponds to provide oxygen for the fish. This is a Vertex system. These are air stations. This compressor pumps air to the air stations, it flows up through the water and oxygenates the water for better fish. Terry, you've got to tell me what this is? I will. I know it's weird-looking, but this is a fish attractor. Sometimes you need to provide habitat and structure for your fish. You can use artificial structure like rocks, old trees, that sort of thing, or these things that you can buy commercially. They really make great habitat for your fish. So, Terry, there's natural fish attractors, too. Right?
Step 5: The food chain basis:
There are. There's quite a few types of natural vegetation that we like to use in ponds and lakes to enhance the fisheries. Cypress trees are an aquatic tree that we like to plant. They grow well both in and out of the water. I planted one here behind me already, and we're getting ready to put this one in. Hey, Terry! What are these trees doing way out here? Dan, as I was saying, Cypress trees will grow in water. Those are some we planted last week, and we put rocks around them for additional fish attraction. Dan, are you ready to take the next step and stock some fish? Terry, anything that gets me closer to fishing. Let's do it. What's next? Let's go ahead and put these bass in. Alright! So now, Dan, we've stocked our top predator fish. And for Dr. Strickland's lake, the top predator fish is the largemouth bass. Six months ago, we came over and we put in small bluegill and small shell cracker, and those form the basis of our food chain. Now the largemouth bass will really grow and give us good fishing by the end of the summer.
Step 6: Thanks for watching:
Well, Terry, I guess we're all done today. Thanks a lot for your help. Well, no, not quite! There's one more important thing. Let me show you.Well, Dan, here we have a high quality fish food, and in order to grow great fish, you have to have an ongoing feeding system. We use these nice devices. These automatic fish feeders that are programmable to throw feed out several times a day and also throw out different quantities. That helps feed the forage fish (the bluegill) which, in turn, helps the bass. Dan: Why don't you just mount them on the dock? Well, if you put them on your dock, then you have varmints that come onto the dock, like raccoons and possums, maybe geese. By putting them out here, you keep that from happening. Terry, thanks for all your help today. You've given us some great tips. Terry: You're welcome. I've enjoyed doing it. Now I've got to go to work and fill a couple fish feeders. Alright! Well, have a good evening.Fishing is one of my favorite past times. I bet it's one of yours, too. If you follow Terry's tips, you're going to end up with a great bass pond. For information on this project and others, go to www.ProgressiveFarmer.com and while you're there, look for our recipe on a great fish fry.
