I don’t know about you but I am ready for this rain to be over with and February to be on the way out. The rain and deep freeze of 2018 made me think about the pond located on our new property. It is roughly ¼ acre in size and was relatively deep when originally built. I know this by talking with the original owner of the property. He originally had stocked it with bass, catfish and bream. Somewhere along the way he thought crappie got introduced into the pond. As time went on, he moved and the property transferred a few times.
The pond was neglected for years. There is an erosion problem due to livestock overgrazing in the pasture and the dam had become overgrown with willows which has caused the spillway to disintegrate. Water level is low when compared to nearby ponds which tells me we must have a leak somewhere. Many times we find that tree roots or muskrats can cause this issue.
I always ask my clients the following about their pond: location, history, goals, type of fishery, and in a perfect world describe the pond.
The goal for our pond is to provide fishing and swimming for family and friends, promote aesthetics and increased property value, while attracting more wildlife to the area. The pond will be enlarged while stabilizing the hillside to prevent further erosion. This will create a gathering and picnic area. Additionally the shoreline restoration will help with bluegill and bass interaction and most important the catfish for Heather.
This spring the pastures will be treated for unwanted weeds and will be adding manure and soil to help with the degradation of the pastures. Last fall I had the NRCS visit our property to analyze the varieties of grasses, weeds, and provide recommendations to help bring back some of the native grasses.
We will be using a contractor this spring to assess the leak for the family pond and remove unwanted willows. And most importantly as time allows we will do some hook line fish sampling.
I will update you on this project when the contractor comes out and we begin to make improvements. Stay tuned!!!
Joshua Flowers