I’ve received several nice emails from ReelTalk members who appreciate this pond build at a time of sheltering at home.
Well, I had some contractors mix grass seed and a straw roll left from last year so I decided to reseed the pond berm this sunny afternoon. I also dug up and transplanted a dozen or so of the yellow pond lilies from the older pond. These will spread around the entire pond edge.
I even had a grass eating expert (with her buddy right behind) stop by to supervise:
Finally, there was the expected spring algae bloom from all of the decaying plant matter on the bottom of this new pond, so I opened the rock spillway a bit to let the wind and current drain it off the surface.
Your pond’s size, shape and water color bring back fond memories of days fishing for Brookies on ultralight tackle. My friends used to take me to their cottage near a valley with a great trout river. Well it used to be great for brookies, browns, rainbows and chub. When nothing was biting in dog days of summer we would go to a little pond just like yours, located halfway up a hill hidden in trees behind the local ski resort. I think it was the water reservoir for the adjacent golf course watering system. We considered it our secret fishing hole as we never ever saw another soul. Never saw footprints or disturbed grass or tire tracks leading back to the access road and it always, always produced dozens of brightly coloured 5” brookies. Happy days! I’m starting to sound like Bad Bob.
Here are a few more recent photos of the new trout pond. As you can see in the third photo, it’s now stocked with rainbow trout and fathead minnows (although those are supplemental floating trout food pellets on the surface). Spring is struggling to get here.
Here is a better photo of the first pond I put in over 25 years ago that’s in the background. It’s stocked with mostly catfish and bluegill.
Mike, I have enjoyed these posts about your ponds. Perhaps it takes me back to my days as a teenager when I maintained a freshwater aquarium. I was very into it, as much for the plants as the fish, and tried to emulate some of those beautiful acquascapes that I saw in the tropical fish books. It was a challenge. Learned the hard way that undergravel filters were good for keeping the water clear but not for growing plants. I raised angelfish and had several pair off and spawn, but was not successful at raising any of the fry. I think my tank was too small and the fish would get nervous and eat their eggs. I've often thought about starting another aquarium, but didn't think it fit into my "lifestyle" and desire to travel. Well, it will be a while before I travel again so maybe I should. Or buy a cabin, ha!, and start a pond. Good luck with your project - it looks great!
Kevin
The bridge we built over to the island in the bass pond has been a great place to fish. But when you break your line off and have to redo your setup, or even just bait your hook, you are forced to sit on the bridge deck. With inspiration from the bait stations you find on fishing piers at the beach, I built and installed this little bait table this evening. I used pressure treated lumber and fastened it to the bridge with several lag bolts. That’s a small but powerful solar light screwed to the deck for nighttime catfish.
Truly fine Mike! But I assume you have neither otters nor great blue herons there. Here in my area (Nashville) the herons clean out backyard ponds with koi in no time. In rural ares entire stockings of catfish are gone in a month thanks to otters. Herons never left. Otters extirpated by 1900, restocked by Wildlife Resources some twenty five years ago in the Harpeth River (my favorite stream system). Have proliferated to the point of pestilence. Although we now have otters, its tough to have stocked ponds and fecund smallmouth creeks.Such is life.
Haven’t posted a photo of this small trout pond for almost 2 years, so I took a few with the now mature lillies in bloom this evening. My buddy who put the catch basin in this week on the gravel road in the other thread also excavated this pond.
Someone made it through deer season unscathed and came for a drink today… I hope to find some shed antlers this spring. Photos taken looking down from the cabin porch.
I once wondered why deer turn bright orange-red come summer. They stick out like a sore thumb against green vegetation. Or...more like a ripe apple against a sea of green leaves! Then it dawned on me that carnivores (canids, felids, ursids) are not sensitive to long wavelengths -reds, oranges. Summer deer coats simply match the relative brightness of summer vegetation, and under the long bright days of summer. That's my assumption anyway.
The mother is keeping the fawn near the house because the coyotes howl through the valley below us. This area of West Virginia/Pennsylvania has a large coyote population. When we returned from vacation last year we found the bones of a dead fawn in the woods near our backyard. The circle of life is always a challenge.
Seems cruel sometimes but it's Mother Nature's way. Too many deer, then comes the Blue Tongue & CWD. Too many coyotes & not enough food, then comes the mange. Not enough predators, then an abundance of rodents, prey & disease. It's a viscous cycle but Mother Nature is best at keeping it balanced as long as humans stay out of the way.
Love those Open Face Spinning Reels!(Especially ABU & ABU/Zebco)
