Y'all, I have got it bad. I wanna dig another pond with a natural earth island in the center.
One is never enough!!! LOL
I dug a few before buying this land, and the first one that I dug here was all that I needed. I put an island on it, a small pier and stocked it with catfish, bluegill and minnows. It turned into a great catfish pond with the pond recored being over 13 pounds. It dried up on me and I've dug it out some and took out quite a few trees around the edge of it. It also has an island in it that I built for ducks, and also because I like islands. Whild cleaning it up, I made the island half the size that it was. There are half a dozen pine trees growning on it, and it's probbly still too big, but I like those trees and didn't want to take any of them out. My two ducks use it all the time, but they also really like to get under the shade trees along the shoreline.
My bigger pond became an obsession that lasted a couple of years and is my pride and joy. I didn't put an island in it, but my log and stump piles create multiple small islands. Birds and turtles use them all the time. They are small, nice looking and really something that I like a lot.
I've cleard an area to dig my third pond. It's in the flood plane, and at the very lowest part of my land. I dug a hole with the backhoe and it filled up with water. The table water is about four feet down, so this will be a dug out pond that should stay full year round. It will be about a quater acre in size, making it my smallest pond. It's also surrounded by trees and in my mind, it should be a very nice looking pond. My biggest concern is the flooding from the creek that happens once or twice a year. The sand and silt that is left behind might eventually fill up the pond. As it is, when the flood waters receded, I'm left with sand banks that I have to haul off. Usualy I can do it in half a dozen trips with the one yard bucket on the backhoe, so it's not that big of a deal, but if it goes into the pond, I won't be able to get it out as easily and it will just fill in over time. In ten years, I might not have a pond anymore.
Good luck with your next pond. I'm looking forward to seeing the pictures of it!!!
Eddie
