WATER MAINTAINANCE AND POND CONSTRUCTION

The water quality in your pond
will vary according to the land
uses and geology in the area
from which the pond receives
runoff. If your pond's
watershed is used for grazing or crop production, or it is a dense
urban area, poor water quality
can result of run off from the
watershed is not filtered before
it reaches the pond. A
vegetated buffer strip at least 50 feet wide surrounding the
pond can serve as a natural
filter. If your pond is fed by a
stream, the stream should have
a vegetated buffer strip along
both banks.
3. CONSTRUCTION: 1. Size: The size of your pond is the
major factor that will determine
what fish species to stock, the
degree of management needed
to maintain these fish, and how
many fish you can remove each year. Many farm ponds are built
for livestock watering and are
less than 1 acre in surface area.
Ponds less than 1 acre are more
difficult to manage because the
fish populations can easily be over harvested. Small ponds
that are shallow, are more
likely to have problems with
aquatic vegetation, unbalanced
fish populations, and low water
levels caused by drought. Ponds less than 1 acre are best
managed by stocking only
channel catfish since they
provide more fishing recreation
and can be fed commercially
prepared feed. Larger ponds you need a surface area of at
least 1 acre or more for a good
fishing pond. If these larger
ponds undergo proper fish
stocking, and are managed and
harvested properly, then you can expect many years of
satisfactory fishing. It is difficult
to estimate the surface area of a
pond and many pond owners
have trouble. It is easy to
overestimate pond size, but not a good thing. An over estimate
of size often leads to
overstocking of fish.
2. Depth: Pond depth should be between
6 and 8 feet, with maximum
depth not greater than 10 to 12
feet is the average depth for a
fishing pond. This lets fish
forage on the bottom, even in summer, when low oxygen
concentrations are common in
deeper water, while
maintaining enough depth to
sustain the fish during drought.
Less than 6 feet increases the chances of aquatic vegetation
problems. Depths greater than
12 feet are not necessary for
good fish production. Pond
banks should be a minimum of 3
feet deep at the waterline. Deeper ponds do not
necessarily produce more fish
than shallow ponds. Shallow
ponds tend to be more
productive, but ponds that are
too shallow suffer the risk of drying under summer drought. Call 08032861326 for help and consultancy.

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