My Pond Project

[ETD66SS]

Originally Posted by Tororider

Great looking project, you have two of the best pond guys on the site in Eddie and Meadowlark to give you advice.

I would think about smallmouth bass if I were you. They should be easier to maintain with a feeder fish (bluegill, fatheads) than largemouth.

Keep us updated, looks like fun.

Hey, you should have similar fishing ponds in Michigan to what we have here in NY.

I fished a lot of ponds as a kid, and never did I catch any SMB. Always LMB, BG & Sunfish...

Have you fished ponds in your area with SMB? How big were the ponds, were they deep?

[srossman]

Funny you were talking about fish in the pond. My father has been re-habbing a pond on my grandfathers land and just had a pond guy from Penn State review the pond. He told him that as long as the water temp stays under 70, that the pond would support trout, but like you said, they would not reproduce since they need a stream bed to re-produce. He also said that it would support bass as well, but they would not grow as fast if the water temp didn't get over 70. His pond is a stream fed pond that has a constant flow in and out of the pond.

You're pond looks great. Can't wait to see the final version.
-Scot

[meadowlarkponds]

One thing you might want to consider to help raise larger LMB than you otherwise might be able to do in your climate...use the small pond as a grow out pond or forage pond.

You can probably easily isolate fish in both ponds with a net/screen across the canal. Then let your forage multiply and grow without predators in the small pond and periodically move forage to the LMB pond. It would entail a little effort, but would pay off with some of the largest LMB that could be grown in your area.

If I had a LMB pond in your area and with your setup, no question that is what I would do.

[ETD66SS]

Originally Posted by meadowlarkponds

One thing you might want to consider to help raise larger LMB than you otherwise might be able to do in your climate...use the small pond as a grow out pond or forage pond.

You can probably easily isolate fish in both ponds with a net/screen across the canal. Then let your forage multiply and grow without predators in the small pond and periodically move forage to the LMB pond. It would entail a little effort, but would pay off with some of the largest LMB that could be grown in your area.

If I had a LMB pond in your area and with your setup, no question that is what I would do.

I was actually thinking about that. Putting a grate over the culvert to let small fish swim past, but not big ones...

Would that be sufficient, or would I have to force the small fish to move over?

[meadowlarkponds]

The key would be in the mesh size. To make most effective use of the forage pond, you would need to insure no LMB, zero. You could use a grate or some other material, but in the second year when your LMB spawn they will be as small as the smallest fish and can pass into the forage pond. Now, very small YOY LMB won't do much harm to your forage pond at first, but they grow and when they get 12 to 14 inches can absolutely create havoc and undo what you are trying to accomplish.

I once put about 60 Hybrid Striped Bass(HSB) in what I thought was an empty forage pond...after draining the pond months later, I discovered zero(0) HSB, and one fat, smiling LMB. They are top of the line fresh water predators and will find a way.

The most productive way, IMO, would be to use very small mesh to insure no fish move back and forth and then trap, net, cast net, and/or catch the small forage to move manually into the main pond. If that sounds like too much work, then, you could try the other approach for a couple of years and see what happens...but I predict at least one, happy, fat LMB in the forage pond in a couple of years.

One last thought....if you really want to avoid the fine mesh and associated work but still want to use a forage pond, then you could stock 100% female LMB in the main pond. It would work...one mistake, however, will undo that and also you would have to replenish LMB that are removed.

[ETD66SS]

Silly me, I didn't even think of young LMB getting in there...

I think I would do the mesh thing.

What kind of fish could I have in the small pond?

Would it be possible to have BG or sunfish in there along with baitfish? Or will the BG just demolish everything?

What will the LMB eat initially in the big pond?

[meadowlarkponds]

Originally Posted by ETD66SS

What kind of fish could I have in the small pond?

Would it be possible to have BG or sunfish in there along with baitfish? Or will the BG just demolish everything?

What will the LMB eat initially in the big pond?

Working toward an objective of raising healthy fat LMB in your environment...

First, stock your baitfish (fathead minnows and shiners or whatever is recommended for your area) in both ponds at your recommended per acre stocking rates. Stock BG and red ears (RES) in the main pond at recommended per acre stocking rates for a LMB pond in your area.

Then after a full growing season (spring to following spring) bring in the young LMB in the main pond. There will be plenty of forage for them to eat. Toward the end of that second growing season and thereafter, treat your LMB to forage moved from the small pond.

Now, this is the hard part for me because of regional differences...how many, if any, BG and RES to stock in the small pond. The fear is BG overpopulating the small pond and stunting...remember there will be no predators there in the forage pond to help you keep the BG numbers in check. Talk with your local area DNR if you have them or pro pond managers in your local area for the question on stocking BG and/or RES in the forage pond.

I would not stock any BG and/or RES in the forage pond the first growing season. The second season, at best, only stock small numbers of them in the forage pond ...you could move a few from the larger pond but... Again, the problem I worry about is BG overpopulating the small pond.

If you don't like the way things are going in the future, you have several management options....including addition or subtraction of LMB in the large pond and of course, you always have the option of just opening up the small pond to the LMB predators from the big pond if you don't like the way things are going.

Carefully consider the question of stocking BG in the forage pond.

Sounds like fun to me...and some experimentation/learning along the way.

[pitt_md]

Great looking project.

LMB will do fine in that depth of a pound without any work on your part. I grew up on a farm in MI that had several ponds and some of the bass got real nice in size. Great place to take the kids fishing...

When I lived in upstate NY (Apalachin) I lived on a private man made lake/pond about 15 acres. So many bass in that small lake it was fantastic fly fishing...

[ETD66SS]

Has anyone ever had a GPR (ground penetrating radar) geological survey performed?

The soil conservationist who has been helping me with my pond design has stated that I must not hit bedrock, as that is like adding a drain to the bottom of your pond.

I dug the basin 15 ft deep, but if I want coldwater fish of some type, I need to get to at least 20 ft deep. He told me to keep a minimum of 2 ft of glacial till between the bottom of the pond and bedrock.

I really don't have a place to dig a 25 ft deep test hole to look for bedrock, nor do I want to waste the diesel fuel to do that.

I was hoping I could get a GPR survey done. The radar's look almost like little push mowers, and I only need a small area surveyed.

I have contacted a the place that did my survey, as well as a few other places, but can't seem to come up with anyone who even has the equipment.

Oh, and yes I did think of core drilling, but that looks more costly to do than just wheeling a radar over the ground. Plus I have a lot of large rocks in the glacial till, undoubtedly you'd be drilling more than one hole due to all the rocks down there...

Any ideas?

Here is a company who manufactures the units: Geology and Geophysics Using GPR and EM by GSSI

[ETD66SS]

I spent my Memorial Day weekend digging a 500 ft ditch to the road so I can pump out the unfinished pond without flooding the neighbors fields.

In these pic's you can also see the trash pump I pimped out with a 50 gallon tank so it can run for a few days straight.

I'm trying to save a bit of fuel by not having the pump suck the water up hill the whole time by using a truck tire inner tube to keep the suction end of the hose only 1 ft below water level.


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