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New pond questions

madplotter

PMA Member
We just finished a pond build 2 1/2 weeks ago and it is almost full. Who would have thought it would be full already? I am looking for some advice.

I did not have time to get structure in but I have a small boat that I can do that with.

I have been advised that I can stock immediately even though it is late fall. Any thoughts on this?

We are in Mahaska/Monroe county. Any suggestions for a fishery?

Any other advice?

Thanks in advance...
 
I’m in Illinois, and my county sells fish in the spring and in the fall. I dug my pond out 2 years ago and stocked it a little bit every year since. I’d recommend some bait fish (minnows) and let them spawn before you put too many predator fish in. Either way, you’ll be fine.


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I’m in Illinois, and my county sells fish in the spring and in the fall. I dug my pond out 2 years ago and stocked it a little bit every year since. I’d recommend some bait fish (minnows) and let them spawn before you put too many predator fish in. Either way, you’ll be fine.


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Yep, and Bluegill
 
We stocked fathead minnows and hybrid bluegill in the fall. We bought from Kloubec Fish Farm: http://www.kloubecfisheries.com/
Came back the next spring with LM bass and channel cats.

I added some non-hybrid bluegill I caught from a local quarry and they brought in clam larvae on their gills. Don't think that hurt anything, though. I was hoping to boost reproduction capacity of the bluegill for bass and cat forage. Hybrid bluegill have a lesser amount of female spawn. Thinking of dumping in a couple hundred hybrid bluegill again next spring.
 
I am SERIOUSLY jealous to read that your pond filled up in two weeks!!! I had a big pond built over 2 years ago that has been sitting at 1/2 full for over a year! Now then, it has been coming up nicely lately as we are getting some real rain for the first time in literally 2+ years. But still! :)

Really though...congratulations on such a quick fill, that was great timing for you. As far as fish go, check out Blyzo Fish Farm, 641-874-5907. I stocked my pond last summer with fish from them and I was very satisfied with all aspects of the transaction and by the sounds of things, they aren't too far from you.
 
From what I've read, patience is key. Like fatheads this fall, prey base like bluegills this spring, and predators the spring after that. The fatheads are to bolster the new bluegill population, and the predators then thrive on new bluegill from last years spawn. There's a whole lot of literature floating around the web, should be easy to devise a plan.
 
Don't believe people who say catfish won't spawn in a pond. I stocked a new 2.5 acre pond with 9 channels I caught from the old pond. The new pond has a decent constant trickle of water into it, which might be needed by cats to spawn. Before I knew it, the cats were taking over. Not the worst thing that can happen to you, though. I need to get out the fishing pole to do a little census work. :)
 
Don't believe people who say catfish won't spawn in a pond. I stocked a new 2.5 acre pond with 9 channels I caught from the old pond. The new pond has a decent constant trickle of water into it, which might be needed by cats to spawn. Before I knew it, the cats were taking over. Not the worst thing that can happen to you, though. I need to get out the fishing pole to do a little census work. :)

I too had heard for years that channel cats would not spawn in a farm pond...the truth though is that they will. BUT you have to provide them with some habitat that essentially keeps the zillions of little bluegills from eating all of the catfish fry. As such, I sunk many "tubes" with one end blocked off and situated in 4' to 6' of water(when full). Most of my "tubes" were old sections of chimney, so about 3'-4' long and about 10" diameter.

Then the spawning cat can defend it's "nest", as they will instinctively use the hollow tubes to spawn and can guard the "front door" so the bluegills do not vacuum all of the little ones up right away.
 
If you filled in 3 weeks time then I'd have to question your runoff. It has to just be pouring in there...which is good and bad...bad if you don't have a silt pond.

I spent a couple thousand $ about 12 years ago on my pond. The runoff comes from about 10 acres timber and 5 acres pasture. Even the timber runoff flows over 100 yds grass before it enters the pond. We had a great stock of fish going but never kept tabs on the depth. 6 years later, we had a pile of dead fish after ice out. It went from 14 ft deep to 4 ft deep in 6 years. Consider a silt pond!
 
If you filled in 3 weeks time then I'd have to question your runoff. It has to just be pouring in there...which is good and bad...bad if you don't have a silt pond.

I spent a couple thousand $ about 12 years ago on my pond. The runoff comes from about 10 acres timber and 5 acres pasture. Even the timber runoff flows over 100 yds grass before it enters the pond. We had a great stock of fish going but never kept tabs on the depth. 6 years later, we had a pile of dead fish after ice out. It went from 14 ft deep to 4 ft deep in 6 years. Consider a silt pond!

I did some calculations based on hydro logical numbers online. I demanded a silt basin and we are building 2 more terraces, one about 200 yards above the silt basin and another through a water way that leads directly to the pond.

Long story on this pond. We entrusted the govt to guide us, huge mistake. The NRCS really disappointed me on this entire project so we had it built ourselves, it was not cheap but we think we did it right. The builders claim that it did not cost us much more than cost share will provide, partly because we are not in a target watershed area. Through my job, I deal with the "pond guy" from Texas and he looked everything over, albeit from google earth, and he made some suggestions last year. We estimated drainage in the 12-16 acre range. We are not up to the overflow but we are already at 10'+. Our builders designed in a well thought out spillway.

A farmer friend suggested that we run field tile into the pond, not a big fan of that idea. But when the terraces are complete, that will cut down on the acres being drained into the pond.

The real cool part, there is an old pond less than 50 yards west of the new pond dike. It was 50+ years old and had turned into a 2' deep insect hole but the resident dom buck usually beds in the draw. We drained the old pond and will dry it out and eventually make that a deer paradise.

I will get some pics up here.

Some great advice here, thanks...
 
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Silt basin

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Silt basin full

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