Creating a Lake

[Renze]

There is a commercial campsite in the bush behind us, about a mile. Often people walk through the strip of bush fencerow, next to my brothers house.
They have never seen the "access forbidden" sign when you halt them, but its better now we have added another warning sign under it: Warning for dangerous Rottweiler dogs... It helps a lot, and when someone still dares to ignore the signs, they will go back when they hear the dog bark (even though it aint no Rottweiler)

 

[jimmyj]

The pond looks brilliant! It's so nice to see it changing from a project to a lifestyle. Personally I really like Tilapia and you are very lucky to be able to add them to your mix of fishes.

"And lastly, I'm just a little proud of how this thread has taken on a life of it's own, both is size and views. Allot of people helped out in making it what it is, and the bigger it gets, the more amazed I am at everyones interest and support. Hopefully you and the others wont mind my indulgence in continuing to add to it with the finishing touches that I feel it needs to turn a pond into an attraction. Something that will draw people here to stay in the RV Park and take pictures of it to share with others. A place where they want to be and are willing to spend money to do so."

Elegantly said Eddie. Our thanks go to you for sharing and I'm certain the next project will be just as interesting.

"it's a very simple life doing what I enjoy"

Amen, and simple has many definitions!

 

[EddieWalker]

Thanks everyone.

Of course Rob knows he's welcome to come fishing any time he's in the neighborhood. The one local guy who comes out here from time to time doesn't have the combination to get in, so he has to let me know he's here if he's gonna fish so that I don't lock him in. He's got a list of medical issues that always have me wondering if he's still alive or not. I made it very clear to him that he's not allowed to bring a friend, and he's told me that they have asked where he's catching those fish, but he tells me that he wont tell them because he told me that he wouldn't. I don't know his last name or where he lives, just that he's a local and comes around from time to time. So many people lie to me about why they are tresspassing on my land and he doens't do that. He says that he's curious and thought he'd come up and ask.

I don't have a problem telling a stranger to get off my land and that they cannot fish or hunt here. But if given a choice, I'd just as soon keep them out with a locked gate and some no tresspassing signs. So far, I get two lies. They lost their dog, but never seen to know what breed or color it is, or they are looking for so and so and was told that he lives here. Nobody has ever lived on this land before me.

It's 105 outside today, but I feel like going fishing. I might wait until it cools off, but then again, a nap sounds really good too!!!

Eddie

 

[jenkinsph]

Eddie,

Wow what a nice project, I think you did a great job with it and should be proud.

I especally like the transition from water to shoreline, looks like you put a tremendous amount of thought and hard work into this.


Steve

 

[RobJ]

Thanks everyone.

Of course Rob knows he's welcome to come fishing any time he's in the neighborhood.

Eddie

Ahh you saved me!!! I do need to drive up sometime soon....maybe when it cools off! To hot to fry catfish outside.

Rob

 

[davo727]

Hows the lake level? Been pretty dry lately.

 

[EddieWalker]

Steve,

Thank you. I knew that the dam was going to be very long, so one of the things that I really wanted was for it to flow in and out with enough change to make it look natural. While building it up with the dozer, I ended up making it allot wider then I had planned on. I thought I was going to have a five acre pond, but it ended up being 4 acres because of all the extra room that I took up making the dam so wide. I gurantee it that anybody who walks across it will not be able to tell where it starts. The rest of the shoreline was rounded off and built up to allow a road to be built as well as sitting areas. The reeds that are growing at the edge of the water are a bonus. I didn't plan on them, but there's no way to stop them either. Luckily I have such a steep shoreline that they don't spread out into the water!!!

Rob,

Fall is just three months away.

Speaking of warm weather. I've noticed that it's just about impossible to catch anything at either of my ponds during the heat of the day. Morning and an hour or two before dark is when we've caught them. Have you caught catfish during the middle of the day when it's warm out?

davo727,

Water level at Lake Marabou is down about a foot. It's still at a point that most people wouldn't know it's down at all. Those shoreline reeds do a good job of hiding the waterline, so it still looks full. My yardstick shows how far down I am, but I haven't looked at it lately to see for sure.

My small pond, Alissa Pond, is down two feet. It doesn't have as good of clay in it like Lake Marabou, so I think it leaks a little along with evaporation. It's not something that I feel there is a need to do anything about, but there is a big difference in how much faster it drops then Lake Marabou. It also fills up allot faster. I've seen it rise over six inches on a heavy one inch rain. Lake Marabou is lucky to rise 3 inches with 2 inches from that same rain being more realistic. I've been working on improving that, but so far, I haven't seen any significant improvements from my efforts. Once the grass fills in and covers up the dirt in my back pasture, I think that will help quite a bit with both how much water I get and how dirty it is.

Thanks,
Eddie

 

[RobJ]

Rob,

Fall is just three months away.

Speaking of warm weather. I've noticed that it's just about impossible to catch anything at either of my ponds during the heat of the day. Morning and an hour or two before dark is when we've caught them. Have you caught catfish during the middle of the day when it's warm out?

Thanks,
Eddie

Not many unless you have a deep cool hole in the pond somewhere. My local exprt catfishermen say night is the best, and with a full moon above. In the Trinity I don't even rebait the hooks during the day. Exception is if the river is way up and the fish are in the trees(normally not in the water) feeding.

 

[EddieWalker]

We had a small party here for the 4th of July, so I went and bought a new toy to pull around in Lake Marabou. Before, I had a tube with a cover over it that you hooked the rope to. That was OK, but not great. While looking around at Acadamy, I saw a flat, wide raft like thing that you pull behind the boat. It can handle one to three people. I thought it would make a fun swim platform too. So $70 later, I'm set for the weekend.

We had allot of fun on it yesterday, but with so much going on and then all of a sudden the day was over and then it was time to get the fireworks out, I didn't get any pictures. Today we went out before the storms hit us and dragged the kids around for about an hour. Steph took the pictures.

Eddie

 

[BayouMan]

Eddie,

It is really great to see you being able to enjoy the fruits of your labor. The lake looks great. Thought about you today as we drove past Tyler on our way home from Dallas today. That was a nice rain that we drove through today. Finally got out of it about 50 miles south of Shreveport. We should be getting some of that rain in the Baton Rouge area later tonight.

Mike

 

[bindian]

Dang it Eddie,
I haven't even got my pond stocked yet and I am envious of your 4 acre entertainment spot. I got the pier finished on mine. But like you, I have been been too busy to take photos.
hugs, Brandi

 

[jinman]

Nice photos Eddie. Peyton and Alissa sure look like they appreciate your Academy purchase. If your lake was any smaller, you wouldn't be able to do stuff like that.

Now, have you looked into RC boats? Peyton and Alissa need some boats to run around the lake when it's too cold to swim. Hold onto your wallet! Your $75 float will look like pocket change after you get into RC.

 

[EddieWalker]

Mike,

When you drove down I-20, you passed within half a mile of my place. One of the things that I was looking for when buying the land was easy access. I've been to RV Parks and tried to find Parks that were miles off the Interstate and required a dozen turns to get there. A few that I wanted to look at, I never found!!! So when I wrote down what I had to have and what I wanted to have in a piece of land, easy to find was on the Must Have list.

Brandi,

Congrats on finishing the pier. I'm really wishing that I had mine done, especially with everyone out here, but it looks like a Fall project at the earliest. I seem to get motivated to start a project and then the next thing I know, it's two months later. I bought some flood lights for working in the dark, but they are still in the box. I'm too lazy to get them out!!!

It's too warm to stock fish now, but you should be good to go in the fall. When I planted Lake Marabou, I did the minnows and bluegill in the Fall, then catfish in the spring and bass in early summer when I had several generations of food for them.

Jim,

I was thinking about the size of the pond and how much nicer would be, but also how much more work that would have been too!!! 4 acres seems like a good size for fishing, playing and just walking around. The boat doesn't go real fast, but for the kids on the tube, they think it is. With all my structure in the pond, it's a challenge to stay in the lanes where it's clear.

My brother gave Alissa and Peyton each a RC speed boat last year. They were all excited about them, so we went down to Alissa Pond right away to play with them. They spent about an hour driving them around before we ran out of power. Then they set them up in my shop to charge the batteries, and never touched them again. I even asked them if they wanted to go play with them again, but neither of them were into it. A few months ago, we gave them away to some friends.

It rained yesterday and again last night. I'm at 1.14 inches of rain since it started and hoping for more. Lake Marabou is down about a foot. I can see the yardstick from a distance, but never actually went up to it and checked to see exactly how low it was. I'm guessing a foot, wich isn't bad at all. The water is just below or to the reeds that surround the shoreline, so it's hard to tell that it's down at all. I was able to mow quite a few of them early Saturday morning, so there is an advantage to the water level being down. My goal is to dig my footings for my piers and bridge over the spillway in September, when I hope the water level is at it's lowest. I might even open the valve and lower it another foot if I think it will help. Right now, it's a wait and see type of thing without any real commitment to do anything.

Thanks,
Eddie

 

[MarkV]

We have a little RC electric boat, not one of the fast expensive gas ones, at our place and kids love to go trolling with it. About 3' of line with a lure off the back and you should see the kids when a Bass grabs it and almost pulls it under. Some of the kids involved are in their 50's.

MarkV

 

[BayouMan]

Eddie,
Next time we go to Dallas, I would love to come by and check out your projects. My cell is 225-936-9609. It will probably be several months before we head that way again.
Best of luck on getting your RV park established.

Mike

 

[scoutcub]

Eddie;

I've been reading the entire post over the last few weeks with great interest. I'm currently working overseas, and the internet is essentially our only extracurricular activity due to our location, so it's like returning to a good book every day.
It was fascinating to witness the transformation of an idea to the reality it has become. It was also quite interesting to get to know some of the "characters" that contributed on a regular basis, as well as the very informative information submitted by so many others.
I think you realize you have been an inspiration to myself and countless others. Your work ethic, integrity, and positive attitude speak very highly of yourself as an individual and I would daresay contagious for the rest of us.

I parallel your feelings about raising a family in the type of environment you have created, and hope to do the same in the next few years. The pics of the kids exploring and fishing around the lake were indeed heartwarming!

You also answered one of my question in one of your most recent posts....how you funded everything. I'm one of those guys that has a big house, newer truck, bunch of toys, big debts....but am planning for ways to downsize and live a much simpler life. I like your way better.

One question I do have....any rough idea of the opening of the park? I would love to load the family in the camper, and see the whole operation as well as the pleasure of meeting you.

You never said if you were an East or West coast Marine? I was in from 79-83.

Kudos to you for the project, the wonderful family you have, and the piece of paradise you occupy!

Frank

 

[EddieWalker]

Hi Frank, thank you for your kind words. It's a pleasure to read them and hear of others who enjoyed it. I've been slowly, and I mean VERY SLOWLY, creating a photo album that chronicles Lake Marabou from beginning to end at Picaboo - Photo Books and Cards The end is still a ways off, but that's mostly because I'm sidetracked on a few other things that I'm trying to get done first, but spend untold hours researching and day dreaming about the finishing touches that I still want to do for it to be done.

There really isn't any sort of a schedule on when I'll be ready to start the real construction of the RV Park. I'm slowly clearing trees, moving dirt and carving out the land into roads and sites. I recently finished the pads for my store and rec. building, and I have six out of seven long term roads in. The last road is about halfway cleared, then it needs to have sites cleared before moving dirt around. The short term sites are taking longer and might not be done before the opening just to start generating revenue. I had a few bids on the clearing and dirt work, which were just absured. The best price that I got to install my six inch water line was $30,000. Steph and I did it ourselves in three days after the road bore under the highway was done for less then $10,000 in materials and paying for a ten inch bore 100 feet under a State Highway!!! My remodeling, general contracting business is doing better and better, so I'm not hurting for money or in a rush to get the park open right away. As it is, I have lots of time and no pressure. When the trees are out of the way and the dirt is where I want it, then I'll take the next step. It's still quite a few years until I'm at that point.

I was in the Corps from 83 to 88. Boot Camp at SD and then stationed at Pendleton and Quantico before going overseas as an Embassy Marine at Younde Cameroon and Jakarta Indonesia. 30 months overseas was plenty!!!

What are you doing overseas and where are you?

Eddie

 

[scoutcub]

Eddie;

It's hard to grasp the magnitude of the RV park especially going it alone, but what a great ongoing project!
I recently bought 62 acres in Ohio and hope to start building in the next year or 2. I just bought a small dozer and have a few compacts to work the property, and will try to do a little at a time to get it where I want it. It already has a small pond and creek on it, (and a beaver dam) but I have plans for 1-2 more small ponds. Much of your Lake thread has been invaluable for my future planning. I also want to build as much of a good size pole barn and the house as possible, to keep costs down. I've always been told you could typically double the cost of materials for labor, but in your case with the water main, even triple it!
I was in the Corps from 79-83, boot camp at lovely PI then 4 years at Lejeune. Of the 4 years, I did 2 years on deployments, NATO's and MED trips. Got to see a lot of the world for free, some I would have preferred not to see!
I served in 2 other services after the Corps, ending up with 25 years military.

Now I'm working close to your old stomping grounds of Cameroon...in Nigeria, flying to offshore oil rigs. Hopefully working here will allow me to retire earlier and start the dream projects that much sooner!

Frank

 

[03FORD250]

Hey Eddie,

Just spent a significant portion of the last four days reading every page straight through to 160!!!! What an amazing project. Pretty sure I wouldn't have had the intestinal foritude to start it much less finish it. Makes my little 1/4 acre pond look like a puddle. Just a thought, but when I moved into my place the pond was completely covered with algae. I tried Copper Sulfate, which worked, but I was concerned that the rotting vegetation would deplete the water of oxygen and whatever fish were in there would die. I decided on a bottom aerator, and couldn't be happier, its been in for 2 years now and haven't had an algae problem since. Food for thought if you should have the same problem.

Great job and keep the progress reports coming.

Chris