Greenhornet1986

Thats kinda what we do around home, but being so close to a large water source(Currituck Sound) and also the ocean, it fills up mighty quick. We have 7 or 8 ponds on our property, most about an acre, 3 of them about 2 acres. We dug one of the 1 acre ponds just a couple of years ago. Prettiest water you could ever see, until they fertilized the field around it, and slung some fertilizer in it, and now it has a lot of algea all in it. I was going to stock it with some crappie and some bream, but not with all the algea and grass in it. We also have a 3-4 acre impoundment, but that is a little different, since we have to fill it(we have a water diversion pipe set up in a ditch, so that all the rainwater fills it-cuts down big time on gas to pump water one pond into the impoundment).

I think you would be better off to dig a pond for the fill dirt myself. We always had extra left over from what we were doing, and sold it off. Made a little bit of the money back. 3 of the ponds are stocked real good, one has mainly bream with some big bass in it, one has crappie and catfish and bass and bream, the other one has a mixture of all kinds of fish, including some that are from the sound, when it gets salty, such as spot and croaker(and my gf caught a baby tarpon in it one day-really cool).

Plus, you have the option to go fishing in your backyard, anytime you want to, which is always a plus

zulusafari

Around here, people have hired explosive experts to dig the ponds. The last one I heard about, the contractor asked where the guy wanted the dirt, and then layed the charges acordingly. Pond was dug in a day, when all the boring/charging was factored in, and the dirt wound up right where the guy wanted it. Probably needed a bunch of buldozer work to get it ready for a foundation of course, but the hole was done! Neat stuff...

fbx22

yeah if you have a stream or creek for a water source to keep it moving and draining that will be great. If you dont you'll need a pump as stated above.

I PASS GAS

All great info guys. Thanks very much. I've always wanted a pond since I was a kid and now that I have the land for it and I need fill and lots of it, it seemed like a no brainer to me. I just wanted an opinion on if it was actually financially feasable to go that route.

That is one thing that I did not consider was filling the pond. It shouldn't be that much of a problem in these areas...always plenty of water to be found.

I am going to give the wildlife and fisheries a call to see what services they offer. I know they will stock the pond, so I assume they would do some testeding and help me get it set up.

I really like the explosive idea...that would be neat. Would be a heck of a 4th of July display!

If anyone else has any ideas...feel free to share!

Thanks!

Greenhornet1986

Since you live near New Orleans(going by your profile), you shouldnt have any problem filling it, if you dig down a little bit. The water table is probably decently high, just try to get below it. If we dig a deep pond around home, we have to get a pump setup so that the water doesnt fill the hole before we're done digging

I PASS GAS

This will actually be closer to Baton Rouge. I'm moving that way. Things around here are getting out of control as far as the crime goes. Also tired of running from huricanes. Trying to get set up there before the future wife is done with school.

Even there, I can't imagine that the water table is very far down there either.

Joe T

How hard would it be to dig a pond with a small 450 case dozer? And a dumptruck and a loader on the side loading it?

annabelle

How many yards is the loader's bucket?

Joe T

Don't know. Maybe a couple at most, maybe one. It's on a 350 case trackloader.

annabelle

The operator is your most limiting factor. You should have no problems.