Building a Fish Pond

By Dan Russell
Published on May 1, 1980
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After you're finished building a fish pond it might look something like this. INSET: A successful catch.
After you're finished building a fish pond it might look something like this. INSET: A successful catch.
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Diagram shows a method of building an earthen dam that will retain water but also allow overflow water to escape. 
Diagram shows a method of building an earthen dam that will retain water but also allow overflow water to escape. 

A fish pond (some folks call such bodies of water farm ponds, but I say that you don’t have to live on a farm to construct your own fishin’ hole) can provide many hours of pleasant recreation, enhance the beauty of (and variety of wildlife on) a homestead . . . and significantly increase the property’s resale value in the bargain. Yet a lot of landed folks are intimidated by the thought of building a fish pond because the project seems too imposing.

The truth of the matter, though, is that making and managing your own fishpond isn’t really difficult at all. There must be over a million “outdoor aquariums” in this country already, and — if you want to add one more pond to the number — the chances are pretty good you’ll be able to do so.

Site Selection

A good fish pond should cover no less than half an acre and be six or eight feet deep over at least a quarter of its total surface area. The ideal spot for locating a mini-lake is in a well-banked gully that can offer five acres of watershed for each acre of pond surface. Such a land hollow will provide a ready-made basin for your little reservoir, and any narrow section of the draw will present a logical site for your dam.

Of course, it’s likely that you don’t have a “textbook perfect” pond spot on your own property, but — with a little bit of chin-scratch cogitating — you can probably design a pond that will meet the demands of the location you do have available. For instance, I know of a man who built a very successful fishpond by erecting two dams, one at each end of along valley. And I watched another fellow scoop out his future fishery right in the center of a level field. (At the time, I wondered what that man was going to use for a water source, but the clever fellow just borrowed a bunch of irrigation pipe from his neighbors and pumped his pond full . . . from a creek located over a quarter of a mile away!)

The point is that, if you’re truly set on having your own fishpond, I’m sure you can find a way to make one. Keep in mind, though, that it’s always best to move the least amount of dirt to the spot where that earth can back up the greatest amount of water . . . and that other considerations, like a desire to use the lake to irrigate crops or to water livestock, might affect your pond’s placement.

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