Water Pond or small lake

[ajohnston]

I am in the process of purchasing a new home that has a fishing pond/lake. Man made i am sure.<br />It is aprox l 1/2 acre to 1 3/4 acre. This pond is in exc shape now with plenty of Blue Gill and Large Mouth bass and i believe a couple of grass carp. I need help in keeping this pond/lake in good condition. I do not know how to start but do know if i don't it will become nothing but a hole of water. the depth is from 2 feet to aprox 8 feet. I would like to put some catfish in there in addition to what is there now. It has too many bluegills need to be thin out some i think.<br />does any one have suggestions or where i can go to find information of how to maintain this pond?<br />All help will be appreciated. This is going to become my little paradise on this earth.

 

[88spl]

Re: Water Pond or small lake

We in Texas call them Tanks, why I don't know...anyway, I to wanted some catfish, but wish I had not stocked (bluecat) as over the years has made the water very cloudy. Befor it was quite clear. The cats are very large 15 to 20 lbs, very nice to eat. I would feed them and still do, dog food, dry. They love it, they come to the top of the water, you can see all thier little wiskers move back and forth as they feed. My wife does all the fishing, as its not much of a challenge for me. She hooks a piece of bread to a hook catches a blue gill, then cuts it in half and uses as bait. She has never been fishing and not cought a catfish. <br />Have fun!

 

[sloopy]

Re: Water Pond or small lake

were in WV is this? Morgantown, Fairmount ???

 

[JB]

Re: Water Pond or small lake

I have a tank. About 2 acres and very silty. Too many channel cats. Tried stocking bass and bluegill twice. The catfish ate them.<br /><br />Gonna keep the bass I catch for a few weeks, bring them home and put them in there. They will be too big for the cats to eat.<br /><br />Had the county Ag Agent come check it out. He told me to put a couple of round bales of fresh hay in there. Said it would cause the silt to settle and clear the water.<br /><br />So, AJohnston, the point of all that is: 1. Call your local Dept. of Agriculture and ask the agent to check out your pond. I expect that he will recommend adding some channel cats.<br /><br />Good luck.

 

[12Footer]

Re: Water Pond or small lake

I no longer live there, but my brother does....On the beautiful shores of 'Lake Acne'. The then next door nieghbor and I dug it and sold/hauled the fill back in the early 70's.<br />It is mostly muck bottom,and very silty,and always has been. The only thing we ever stocked was largemouth bass and Bluegil. It is apprx 10arces,with a 15 acre swamp. It has a bit of everything in it,including mudpuppies and walking catfish.<br />The freshwater cats we have down here, never get over 10lbs. The walking cats are a pain.<br />We were told that once the FWC inspects a body of water, or someone's land, they then have enforcement privileges on said property.<br />Needless to say, they aren't allowed on the property,unless under a signed "unofficial capacity". This is so they could still come on out and fish or party with us.<br />We have some insane parties out there (not quite as many as we used to tho).<br />I miss living there tho.

 

[ajohnston]

Re: Water Pond or small lake

reply to question. I am located in Monroe County West Virginia (It really is GOD's Country) We still do not have a stop light in fact not even a caution light, The deer does not know what the light means anyway. It is primary a farming county, and is becomming a favorite retirement county.<br />JB appreciate your info and all others appreciated also. I am looking forward to moving i am just curious as to how many channel cats that i need to put in the pond. If they are not at least two pounds or more the bass will take care of them. According to the present owner he put 25 about 6 inches in there and none seem to have surrvived. I am going to go larger.Looks like the blue gill would be a better meal for the bass then catfish. Does anyone know a good way to cleanse the bottom of sediment without draining the pond? would a good sludge pump work on some of it. this is an old pond could be 40 to 50 years old.

 

[derwood]

Re: Water Pond or small lake

I live in sumpter Co. FL. and have a 2 acer pond that has wetlands on eather side of it.<br /><br />A couple of years ago we stocked it with Bass, blue gill, warmouth and catfish.....all were juvinial fish.<br /><br />for awhile they were doing very well....we would go down and feed them food we had bought for them. They would work themselves into quite a frenzy.<br /><br />About a year later we had alot of rain and all the wetlands and cypress heads for miles around flooded....Of coarse our property is almost the last in the chain of low spots before the withlacoochee river....the redneck-a-ma canal if you please.<br /><br />well my drive way in was flooded with 300 ft of running water 2 ft deep for a month and a half.<br /><br />The baird owls would sit on my mail box to fish for dinner.<br /><br />All my fish swam out into the flood waters to who knows where.<br /><br />A very few stayed behind....our water is stained with acids from the cypress trees and whatever elese so it is the color of ice tea.<br /><br />the only problem we had that we could control was weeds....hydrila...it would take over if we let it.<br /><br />we got in there and cleand it out with gravel rakes for a month....we put the hydrila in our garden for composting....good stuff with all the marine animalls in it.<br /><br />It would be my suggestion that when you stock it to also stock it with minnows for food....and for awhile give the minnows someplace for refuge from preaditors (the fish you stocked) so they can breed and keep on feeding your fish.<br /><br />I will do that next time i stock my pond....I know of other pepole that do it and the minnows have breed nicely and there fish are doing fine.<br /><br />good luck.<br /><br />Derwood.

 

[ajohnston]

Re: Water Pond or small lake

Not knowing too much, i have planned to sink at two different locations a minimum of two cedar type christmas trees for cover and concealment of the minnows. Much like one does for a crappie bed. Will that work?

 

[Fishbusters]

Re: Water Pond or small lake

As to the sludge issue I saw something on a fishing show that would work but I bet a good sump pump could be modified to do it. What I saw was a barge with a suction dredge on it they were sucking up sediment and duming it out of the river far enough the run off would not carry it back. The same aparatus is used to dredge for gold and such and is basically just a smaller model of the dredge in the harbour operating right now.<br />I would use some hardwood over the ceaded because it will last longer but adding both a made up bed of hardwood tops and branches as well as one of christmas trees would be good. Some other things to consider might be some old cement drain pipes as well as letting your imagination run some. I think that the guy that was in charge of B.A.S.S. has either a video, book or both about making ponds and another about renuing an old one it would be worth it to check if your local library has it or can get it. Make sure you do your dredging first before adding anything else to the pond as stiring up the silt might stress out just added fish and the less you have to "vacume" around the better just like the floor of a house.