Creating a Lake

[bmac]

Thank you everyone for your help in identifying that bird. It really had us puzzled, and one thing about Steph, is she loves a puzzle. We went down to the lake several times over the weekend to see it again and get some better pictures. She finally got close enough for some pics, but had to do them off hand as the tripod wouldn't set up and allow her to take the shots. It's a touch blurry, but still clear enough to see the spots on it's chest.

Yellowish beak and legs with spots on it's chest makes it a Spotted Sandpiper to us. We're open to suggestions and corrections, but that beak color is the main thing that we couldn't find in any of the other birds we looked at.

Eddie

Eddie,

Has Steph tired a monopod for her camera? I've never used one, but it might give her the stability she needs without all of the adjustments required with a tripod. Also, lighter weight. Here's a link with what I'm talking about.

Monopods

 

[patrick_g]

My wife and I have adjustable length hiking sticks with a wooden ball on top (comfortable to the hand) which screws off revealing a tripod type screw that fits the standard socket on cameras. Just takes a few seconds to mount the camera. The walking stick is quite handy for "beating the brush" actually alerting any snakes in the grass of your approach so they get a chance to slither away before you are within range.

As a camera monopod it works pretty well, good for long telephoto shots and macro stuff where the extra stability is desirable. Much lighter weight than a tripod and serves other purposes. Not as effective or featured as a good tripod but much more likely to be taken along.

Pat

 

[MadDogDriver]

Neat thing about ponds, you build one and pretty soon new and wonderful living creatures are all over the place.

At least it wasn't a snake nymph!

jb

You know your lake is well stocked when these guys show up for dinner.



Thanks for the thread Eddie.

 

[BTDT]

That's funny. I guess they are trying to figure out the "fish finder".

 

[have_blue]

That's funny. I guess they are trying to figure out the "fish finder".

I think they're looking for the poop deck.

 

[UpstateNYMarine]

Eddie,

You think we can get a picture of that lake? Haven't seen a new one in a while. I was putting in a small culvert for the first time last night with the new JD2320 and I got to thinking about a pond of my own (again), I'm gonna give it a whirl here one of these days. The wife wants the pond two and she even asked if you had any new pictures of your lake ( I showed her your progress pics a couple of weeks ago.. Have a good one.

Semper Fi,
Mike

 

[EddieWalker]

Mike,

Here's some pictures I took almost two weeks ago. We were planning on going for a walk around it over the weekend, but that never happened. It rained a quarter inch yesterday and today is at one inch so far, with more coming. The lake was 14 inches low when I took these two pictures.

I didn't take pictures of this, but the shoreline is full of deer and wild hog tracks. The hogs all seem to be small with allot of piglet tracks. There is some damage from rooting along the top of the dam, but mostly they seem to like to drink from the emergancy spillway.

I just bought a used 7 foot Landpride finish mower yesterday and will pick it up on Saturday if the weather is clear. It's used, but in really good condition for $600. That should make mowing along and around the dam allot easier and with better results then my 6 foot Landpride bush hog. I've really wanted something that would follow the contour of the ground on four wheels. It has four big wheels at each corner, plus those long, flat rollers in the center for high spots.

I'll post pics when I get it and comment on the results.

Thanks,
Eddie

 

[EddieWalker]

bmac,

I showed Steph the link to the monopod and she's very interested. She said she's going to look into them.

Thanks,
Eddie

 

[EddieWalker]

It's rained every day this week. Monday was a long term thing that only gave us half an inch. Tuesday was also an all day rain that gave us 3/4 of an inch. Both days didn't have very much runoff. Just a good, long soaking.
Then Wednesday, we had a very big storm come through that droped an inch in 18 minutes and another quarter inch in half an hour. That has some serious runoff!!! Last night we got another 2 inches fairly quickly with lots of runoff. Four and a half inches raised the lake 7 1/2 inches, but I think most of the water came from the fast, heavy downpours.

The grass is really starting to show up now. I planted allot of bermuda seed last fall, but it went dormant over winter and I haven't seen too much sign of it. Today is the first time I've seen multiple sprigs coming up. It's still kind of thin, but there is so much of it that in no time, it will be nice and thick!!!

Eddie

 

[rico304]

That's funny. I guess they are trying to figure out the "fish finder".

hahahahaha That cracked me up

 

[EddieWalker]

We had quite a bit of rain last month and Lake Marabou has been full, but I haven't been able to see it overflowing until now. Friday night, we had a pretty intense thunderstorm come through that dropped 2 1/2 inches.

This morning, Steph and I took a walk down to the lake with her taking pics. There are allot of pictures, but it's impossible to capture the entire size of it. Hopefully you can get an idea of it with these pics.

The water coming through the overflow is about half an inch deep and perfectly clear. It's flowing nice and easy without causing any erosion. There is some grass that's bent and fattened, but you realy have to look for it. I have no idea how much water passed through there, but with it still flowing out after a day and a half, and nothing coming in, it must have been allot!!

Thanks,
Eddie

 

[KentT]

We had quite a bit of rain last month and Lake Marabou has been full, but I haven't been able to see it overflowing until now.

Looking great, Eddie. It's sure going to be beautiful when the lakeshore is all green and neatly mowed! That grass is really coming in nicely.

 

[Bird]

That's looking good, Eddie. I guess the only thing left now is to see how well the water level holds up during our summer droughts (something we may not have to worry about this year ).

 

[MarkV]

Eddie, with all the rain you are getting I’ll bet you really appreciate the fact that you were able to finish lake build last year when it was dry. We have your last year weather this year and our lake is down 11/2 feet.

Are you going to do any over seeding of your grass areas or just give it time?

MarkV

 

[jinman]

It's really cool when a plan comes together. You've turned a swamp into a super nice spot. I'm really happy for you.

Eddie, it looks like what you really need now is a paddleboat like ours. I know you have the small fishing boat, but those paddleboats are sure handy and easy to operate.

 

[patrick_g]

We have one of the smaller paddle boats (no surrey top, no cooler niche and no rear facing passenger seats) and it is fun with no battery hassles. However, ours is a two person unit with separate seats so with only one person on board it lists quite a bit as the CG is shifted way off center (by my 245 lbs.)

We also have a canoe which I personally prefer by a large margin. My wife prefers the paddle boat when solo or with a lady friend or kid. A couple grown friends like to take it out while doing catch and release bass fishing. I still prefer the canoe although it is NOT intended as a one man canoe as it is a bit over 17 ft long and over 3 ft wide amidships, a real cargo hauler which has served us on a few self guided white water river adventures. It is certainly manageable for a single paddler but if a smaller lighter canoe just happened to offer itself (even a plastic kayak) at a RIGHT price, I'd add it to the flotilla.

Paddleboats will entertain kids and are a more stable platform for the less coordinated but a canoe will go farther faster with less effort, especially if there is a little wind involved. This assumes upper body strength for paddling whereas the paddleboat uses your legs.

You pays your money and you takes your chances!

Or better yet... Get both!!

Pat

 

[EddieWalker]

KentT,

Thank you. The grass is really looking great in places, but in others, it's very sparse to non existant. I was mowing along the waters edge yesterday evening and was just about done when I got too close to the water and buried my front tire. One second it's there, the next it's gone. hahaha

I have some small ruts from the rain that I want to fill in and smooth out the dam, but I'm debating wether to do it now, or wait for the grass to fill in more and get thicker.

Bird,

I'm very interested to see how much the water drops during summer months. I was losing about an inch a week during winter and spring when it was dry out, but with the heat of summer, I expect it to be allot more. The yardstick in the water has been really a good idea to help keep track of the water level and how much it changes.

MarkV,

It really is amazing how lucky I got with the weather and my timing to build Lake Marabou. Before the drought, the area held water for most of the year. I tried draining it, but that was only partially sucessful. Taking out the trees and digging down as deep as I did would just have been impossible without the drought. The areas of my land that are just like the lake area are still holding a foot of water and I haven't been able to get into them since last fall. The more timber I clear, the more access I have, and the more I realize just how much swamp land I own. hahaha

I'm still debating about adding more seed. It seems that every week, there is more grass coming in. I really did put down allot of bermuda seed last fall, so it might just be a matter of time for it take over.

Jim,

Thank you. I told Steph yesterday that building Lake Marabout is not only the biggest thing I've ever created, but also the greatest!! There's really no words to describe what it's turned into and how nice it looks. We've taken hundreds of pics to try and capture it, and have failed with every one. It's my baby and I'm very proud of it.

Funny that you mention the paddle boat. Steph has been talking about getting one for awhile now. She reallly enjoyed yours when we were there and wants one of our own. I agree, but have only just started looking around. We've looked at the ones at Atwoods and Tractor Supply and haven't decided on either one. Prices are around $600. Does anybody know of another source or place to look at paddle boats?

Thank you,
Eddie

 

[EddieWalker]

Pat,

Thanks for the idea of a canoe. Neither of us have mentioned it, so that might be an option. The paddle boats we looked at have four seats and a canopy. They also have plenty of room for drinks and tackle boxes, which would be nice for us and the kids.

Right now the kids just love to go out on it while I paddle it around. We do little family boating trips where they hang over the sides and drag thier hands in the water while Steph takes pictures. It's fun, relaxing and quality time that they will remember all thier lives.

Thanks,
Eddie

 

[RobJ]

Eddie, I think everyone would agree we would prefer to see Stef by the lake...instead of you. I mean you are a nice guy and all...but...

And without the pig...and the gun. that's scary!!



Rob

 

[KentT]

Pat,

Thanks for the idea of a canoe. Neither of us have mentioned it, so that might be an option. The paddle boats we looked at have four seats and a canopy. They also have plenty of room for drinks and tackle boxes, which would be nice for us and the kids.

Right now the kids just love to go out on it while I paddle it around. We do little family boating trips where they hang over the sides and drag thier hands in the water while Steph takes pictures. It's fun, relaxing and quality time that they will remember all thier lives.

Thanks,
Eddie

Though I have a 17' canoe, I'm thinking of one of these mini-bassboats with an electric trolling motor. Even with lifejackets, I'm a bit leery of canoes. They're fine for the grandkids to putz around and go exploring in, but not to fish from... I can just see one of them hanging a 2lb bass, getting excited, then dumping everything and everyone else in the canoe out when they stand up or shift their position...

Mini Bass Boats

That same company has several types of paddle boats, but I'm not sure how shipping would be...

Pedal Boats