Found a spot without too much rock, but with lots of clay. Should make a good watering/fishing-hole.

Looking at the pole with the transformer, and guy line, the power company may be a little less enthralled with the pond site than you might imagine!

May justbe perspective too

Yeah, they may want to change the pole location. It's not had any power to the transformer in years.
Transit now shows water level to base of pole, with guy-wire sunk in rock below what will be the water level.
Initial plan was not to go that high, but I like the idea of as much water as possible in this particuliar pond.

Very exciting. It looks big enough to sustain a variety of fish.

If it was mine I would disc in some Bentonite before it starts to fill even though it does not look too rocky for this part of the world.

Are you going to build some fish structure before it fills?

Allen,
Is there a local(MO, AR, OK) source for the Bentonite?

I am considering concrete blocks anchoring some dead trees as structure. Do you have any suggestions?

30 or 40 feet deeper, an old shipping container at the bottom, few allimagatuhs, three dozen aligaytuh snappuhs, & some basses ...

Steve,

Usually feed stores can order it for you. I would call the Agricultural experiment station at the Univ. of Arkansas. The last time I built a pond in West Plains Mo. I remember the Univ. of Arkansas had some literature that I consulted.

It has to be spread on then disked in so when the Bentonite gets wet it expands to 9 times its diameter and seals the pores between clay. You cannot just spread it on the surface as some people try to do.

As far as fish structure I used old tires and cedar trees with big rocks wired to them so they wont float up and set them within casting distance of the boat dock so I did not have to get in the boat to fish them. I think anything that creates an edge is good - old cars or ?

Make one end a little bit shallow, 2' or so and it will make a good duck pond too.

How is that swimming hole coming along, Steve?
When will it be ready for an AR Fishing Tournament and BBQ?
That is a beautiful piece of property you have.

Don't forget to add some catfishes & crawdads too!! Gotta get a proper culinary ecosystem goin' ...

Mary, the digging is done.
We're planting some rye-grass today.
The pond should be full by spring, when I will order some catfish, bream, and bass.
The area has plenty of deer and turkey, and the pond will likely help draw in some bear, too.
Wild hogs are just a few ridges away, so will probably be there by spring, too.

Macifej, the crawdads always manage to find those ponds. I don't know if they come in as eggs/young on birds' feet, or if they just crawl up from the wet-weather creeks.

Steve, when you order the fish, be careful about the sizes you order or the catfish (channel only) will eat all of the other fish without proper cover. The bass and bream need to be much larger. You also may want a shallow area for spawning. Depending on the drainage and water fill, you may want to add a couple asian grass carp as well. They will keep the duckweed and milfoil in check. Just ideas.

Bottom needs some undulation and deep holes with an island in the middle for spawning and bullfrogs and other natural food sources. For you and the fishes!

Appears to be too late now. Merg

Dang that looks like a nice pond in the making.

Oh dead power line will be far less of an issue, huh?

Probably can't dig in too much water storage capacity when you have dry dirt to work. don't forget to stabilize the outfall, newly worked dirt can erode fast.


See of you can find some sections of concrete culvert for free, different sizes and you will have spawning catfish. and piled in jumbled piles will provide some cover.

First till in the bentonite if needed, it will sure make the pond hold water much sooner.

If you go with Asian carp, make sure they are sterile variety.

Might want to start some sort of "minnow/food fish before you put in any of the predators.

Oh find a good shady spot so you can sit and shoot the turtles when they suddenly show up.

Steve
Your pond fish cover.
Get some PVC pipe. Large to small. Drill holes size of smaller pipes and drive into larger. A base needs to be built out of big pipe in crib fashion then the rest can be random. Makes for good cover will not degrade and best of all hooks will not hook. If fish swims in it is much easier to get it untangled. So for children it is great.

The base can be made with larger pipe cut in 3 or 4 ft lengths and stacked sort on like an old animal or corn crib. At corner intersection a hole drilled straight down and a smalled pipe driven straight down holding the corner(s). From there make it look like a porky pine...... a fun project.

It is light so it can be moved ,if need be, and needs no blocks to anchor.

Who is operating the dozer? You?

Artificial island of stacked/attached tires filled with dirt can be made. Will not wash down over time. Stacked as a pyramid.

Elton

Elton,
Thanks for the ideas on PVC pipe. I'll do it.
The dozer operator is a loong-timer from up here in Crawford County.

Steve,

Just curious if the State helped pay for your pond.
Years ago in our state (Texas), the state would pay for it if they deemed there was enough water shed to keep it full. They would also have fish added to the pond free. Not sure if that option is still open these days.
The catch is that you had to have a state fishing license to fish your own pond (small price to pay). Build your own pond and buy your own fish and the state has no say in the matter.

EZ

eezridr,
If there's a way to get the state to help pay for it, I didn't find it. Will probably just buy fingerlings next spring.

Steve,

Hope you'll be feeding the duck in as well?

May get a few mallard to alight, and a few Wood ducks for pemanent residents. We also have a ton of resident Canadian geese that find every new pond. Long and generous seasons on the resident Canadas.

You would be welcome to visit with the missus, too

Steve,

Thank you. Very kind of you to offer my friend..... We're struggling with time at the moment, mostly because of the new (version) website but we hope to make to the States sometime in 2011 or 12... If we can find time to make the trip, I'll be packing my shotgun and a fishing rod or two!

I just tried to PM /private topic S. Graves on this pond project.

Received a "... not have the rights to view private messages"

What gives? Anybody know?

Elton

I sent Walter PM two days ago asking the same thing. He says AR has no lock on him, that they could not do that if they wished.

Rich

Hey, PM me and I'll see if I can reply

Looks nice. Lemme know when the fish population gets too high and I'll come help you with that.

Guy I used to work for would get old oak pallets for free and screw them together in random forms and sink them with a couple of blocks. Made great cover for crappie.

I really like that pvc idea too. That stuff can be used for anything.

Also don't forget that bream love old Christmas trees. The city has dumped a lot of them in lake Fayetteville.

As mentioned earlier, I think a shallow area would add a lot to the habitat diversity. I was also thinking maybe a couple of rocky points under the water line.

Hope it works out great for you. Just think, in 5 years or so, you should be pulling out some monster bass.

I tried to PM you also, but same story. Shoot me one if you don't mind.

Now able to receive PMs again.

welcome back Doc I guess now I have to cancel my order of the Free Doc T shirt

Steve,

Would trout survive in the lake?

Trout would not survive except in winter. The trout streams here are either cold mountain streams, or are tailwaters of deep lake dams. Our state has quite a large trout nursery program, and about this time of year the State stocks several small lakes with trout in the area. One of those small lakes at Ft. Chaffee yielded a 100 lb catfish this summer to a woman fishing for crappie--betcha that catfish had eaten a bunch of trout--living and dead.

Thanks Steve.
I guess it's a non starter then.... although you have plenty of other options.

As you say, I bet that catfish had eaten a fair number of the released trout.

What do you have out there that would predate on whatever fish you put in there?

Steve,
Besides a bigger fish, in a pond, there are few predators other than snapping turtles, herons, and the occasional osprey/eagle. No alligators here, have to go about 150 miles south to get to their northern-most range. Otters, weasels, and mink usually prefer pools in moving water. Bears here don't fish much. Neither bears, coyotes, nor bobcats would likely try to catch a fish outside a small pool.

Steelslinger, thanks for the ideas.

Steve,

You don't know how lucky you are not to have cormorants over there.

Many years ago, I used to have an interest in a trout fishery and the cormorants used to cost us a bloody fortune...... and to make matters worse, they were protected, so we couldn't legally shoot them.

We've got'em, thank goodness they stay on the River and the big lakes. I can imagine what they would do to a hatchery.

They used to absolutely hammer us and no matter what we did, we couldn't get rid of them........ they used to cost us an absolute fortune.

No Great White?

I sent a PM just to see if we could get current pics, hopefully with some degree of filling.

Won't be any filling... we've had very little rain around here this fall.

Don't forget to look for indian artifacts in that dig!