Pond building ideas

[7BRIDGES]

Looking for ideas on shape, structure or things you wish you did/knew before building one. This will be in NW MO. Thinking maybe a peninsula instead of an island to keep depth but not a must have. Will mostly be used for fishing as we plan to build soon. The blue checkered circle is 2acres, 95yds wide by 150yds top to bottom. Light blue/teal lines are water drainage. I’d like to attract some birds, not necessarily the top of my list but it would be nice for my 1yr old son for the future. I don’t waterfowl hunt much anymore but I’d like to do a/some fingers and not make it completely circular. They do fly over the property headed to to feed from bigger water though. The older photo is what it looked like in the 80s when it was last farmed that shows drainage better. It’s not a wetland but does hold a lot of water in that bottom. I have around 30ac that drain down to here. And tips or ideas are appreciated. Also not set on size, could go smaller/bigger. I do have a lot of erosion from the water that goes to this area though. I don’t have my old email for my last account when tapatalk signed me out so I made a new one. Thanks for looking

 

[Chris in TN]

I’m nowhere close to an expert but I’ve done this twice now. First was about 1.25 acres, second maybe 0.35 acres, and I can offer a few suggestions.

First - ask your local USDA extension guy for input on depth for thermal protection. You want a pond deep enough to protect your fish during the most extreme weather, but no deeper. That’ll likely mean 8’ at the deepest when full. Any deeper is wasted space.

Steeper banks will develop trees and brush and aquatic plants at a slower pace and the pond will last longer. You want trees near the west end for summer afternoon shade but not so close as to dump all their leaves in the water to muck up the bottom.

A spot for a simple duck blind setup would be awesome. So would a simple dock big enough to jump (not dive) or fish from. And contrary to what you might hear, kids can still swim in ponds. My middle child did so yesterday, under my supervision.

The local usda office might know of any cost-share money available in your area. Not sure that’s a thing anymore. If it is - they’ll tell you how to slope the levee and banks. Listen to their advice.

Fostering native plants and stocking fish are subjects for later.

 

[KurtR]

If I had a place here is my dream pond . Dog training would be its use.