Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Has anyone ever built a large pond?

I am currently building a new house. I was wondering if anyone has ever constructed a large(acre or more)pond. I am planning on doing a one acre pond, landscaped to look as natural as possible. The plan is to line it with compacted clay, then over lay that with sand, gravel and rocks. I'm thinking about 15' should be deep enough to sustain fish over the winter. It will be fed by a well, and probably aerated with a wind mill. Any suggestions, comments or ideas??
Thanks,
Todd

Don't you line a pond with bentonite?

Clay works fine, should have a couple feet IIRC, and it has to be tamped and it has to be good clay. No inflow except the well? How about rain/snow and an outlet?

Yes I've built a few. Have plans for at least one more. Sounds like you have a game plan already. Feeding it with a well works okay for a small pond or tank. If the location drains any land you should prepare for overflow during periods of heavy rain especially if you use a dam. If you are just digging a hole its not so important. A good transit is your best friend...

We just "restored" a beaver pond this summer. Which entailed digging out the pond deeper so we have the possibility of keeping the fish alive through the winter (it's at 9200ft altitude). The big challenge is a dam that can withstand spring runoff and won't develop leaks, and a spillway that can handle runoff without eroding.

Because I plan on putting native Colorado River cutts in the pond, I had to have a system to let water out without all the fish going out with it. Besides, the pond a mile downstream has rainbows and brookies in it--and I want to keep those non-native "downstream" fish out.

So we have a square pipe with a vertical riser with the end of the riser at the max level we want the pond to be at, and the square pipe has levels with a board and places on the vertical section that acts like a valve that can raise or lower the water level.

The system your describing for lining the pond sounds like a good one. What altitude are you at in Montana? Are you down in the valleys or up in the hills?

I can't help but put in a pitch for you to transplant native fish into your pond when it's finished


Casey


Oh, and remember to put lots of structure in the pond.

W4B,
Last I knew, bentonite was getting real expensive, and I don't hear of it being used much these days.



Casey

Bentonite is a pain to deal with too. We used it to seal our bermed in fuel tanks. Yuck.

I've dug a couple and improved others. I used to have a fish farm. Clay is good. We got lucky and had it there naturally so we just dug a hole the shape and depth we liked. We had to have a lot of inflow because were raising a high density of fish (over 5000 lb. in one pond alone) so the stuff I know about that wouldn't be very helpful.

15 feet deep is probably plenty deep. You don't want your sides of the pond too gently sloped or it gives wading birds like herons and egrets too much good hunting ground. It also allows cattails and other shallow water plants to move in and enhance the sedimentation rate.

I run a fish hatchery and have several ponds. I suggest wou contact your county Soil and water Conservation Service [USDA]. They know a lot about constructing ponds and they are from your area. If you have never had a pond before they will have good advice. Locate others that have a pond and go talk to them and pick their brains for informatiion as to how they manage their ponds.

A deep pond may collect organic debris in the deep area and develop an oxygen defeciency. Well water has zero oxygen so be careful with that. If you run a 1/2" plastic water pipe siphon from the deepest point the constant low volume flow should work in your favor to reduce the low oxygen water from off the bottom. Be wary of fertilizing the area around the pond or you may get an algae bloom that is unsightly and unplesant to swim in. Trees near-by may add leaves to the pond increasing organic matter and increqsing oxygen demand from the water.

DO NOT just go out and trap or catch a bunch of bait fish and dump them in your pond. DO NOT go out and bring in a bucket of wild type vegetation to jump start the pond bottom. You might bring in something you regret having later on. Ask around about vegetation. Some vegetation on the bottom provides a refuge for the production of zoo plankton and a good habitat for aquatic insects.

Give your pond a year to "settle in" and come to terms with itself. This will allow algae, zooplankton and insect larvae to become established for fish introductions, if you want them. What kind of fish? Be careful of the species you pick. Bass might over populate very fast but ONE largemough would be fun.Two might be like having two mice! Pretty soom the pond is full of 3" bass. It will follow you around like a puppy gulping down frogs and mice you toss in. Catfish and certain minnows will muddy the water. 50 trout in a 1 acre posd would do well . You don't want too many or you will need to feed tham bagged food and the minute you start feeding them the excess nitrogen from the food digestion will cause unsightly algal blooms.

Bull frogs add a nice night time vibrance to the pond. Do you know they wrestle like High school wrestlers? Yep. Common toads are nice too.

Seek local professional advise, SWCS, and from others who have established ponds. There is no free lunch in life and in caring for ponds. Like automobiles there is a certain amount of regular maintenance needed to keep it looking good and in top shape.

Definitely a pier for the kids to jump off and to fish from. Do you ice fish?

OH.....and.....as soon as you have fish....expect all the varmits in Gods creation to flock to the pond to dine on YOUR FISH.

Enjoy the pond.

Find a soils man.
Do it right the first time.

I have to agree with Jed here. We have one that wasn't done right and it leaks. Nothing like worrying every year here in the desert that your fishes are at risk.

I haven't stayed current, but you need to make sure your dozer man does it right also. Something about now they scrape from more than one direction and it seals off the bottom of the pond.

I'd be careful with any chemical sealers.

To keep it simple, around here Largemouths and Green Sunfish are a good combination.

Good advice............Our trout pond is 15 to 20 feet deep with fairly steep sides which keeps the herons from dining on our Rainbows.

Another critter to consider is the river otter. They can clean a pond out in short order. If you place a couple of 10" PVC drainage pipes in the pond this will give the fish a place to hide. You need to reduce the end openings to about 4"'s so that the trout can enter but the opening is to small to allow an adult river otter to enter.

Thanks for all the great advice. I have decided to retain the services of a company out of Oregon to consult with about the construction. They specialize in building ponds, lakes and streams that are self sustaining and look and act 100% natural. The company is called Spring Creek Aquatic Concepts. Seems like the right way to go. It may cost a little more up front, but as pointed out earlier, it is better to do it the right way out of the gate, then trying to repair/fix something down the road. Again, thanks for all of the suggestions and advice. This is a great site, and I figured that I would get some good feedback.
Todd

Todd, you've talked with an engineer or excavator?

That's where I'd start.

You planning on damming a stream or filling with a well?

If you're damming a stream you'd better make damn-sure you know where you stand in terms of water rights (pun intended )

Aeration is a must if there's no water flowing in and out... a friends pond which adjoins my property is aerated via a solar-powered system. Had lovely brown and rainbow trout in it... til' it froze deep enough and killed all the fish!

I'd think fifteen feet would be "ok" on a 1 acre pond though...

I've desinged a few ponds... one thing you should also look into is how much evaporation/seepage you will incure in the summer. Just a guess, but I'll bet the water level will drop about 1.5-2' total over the warm months. Thats a lot of water to pump out of the ground to fill up your pond. Your well could go dry trying to keep up... That amounts to roughly 3-5gal per min to keep it full.

I would try and build a pond where natural runoff can be collected to help keep it full.

Alpinecrick... What permits did you have to pull to 'restore' a beaver pond? I'm assuming it was in Waters of the US? Did you have to go throgh the Army Corp? I'll bet that was a fun time.