Conservation Corner: March 19, 2001

Managing Mississippi's Farm Ponds, Part 1
by James L. Cummins

This is the first of a two-part series on managing Mississippi's farm ponds.

Because of poor planning, bad construction or a lack of management, many farm ponds in Mississippi do not produce the amount of fish desired by the owner, or more importantly the owner's grandkids.

A good pond depends on location, design, construction, the proper stockin rate and management, such as proper harvest, fertilization and weed control. Many times, farm ponds can produce 5 to 10 times more pounds of fish if proper techniques are followed.

Ponds should be at least one-half acre in size and constructed so that at least 20% of the area is 6 feet or greater in depth. All ponds should have a drain, overflow pipe, and emergency spillway for best management. A drain will allow one to manage the water level of the pond, which is often necessary for weed control and managing fish populations. If one has a problem with seepage, a layer of clay should be added to the bottom of the pond. Regarding pond dams, many pond owners do not control woody vegetation on the dam. When large trees die, or are cut, they can leave a hole in the dam, causing major structural problems which are expensive to fix. No woody vegetation should be allowed to grow on pond dams.

Once your pond has been constructed properly, adding fish structure can greatly increase harvest. Structure can be in the form of trees, such as blackjack oak or old Christmas trees, dropoffs or logs.

Structure can be made of various designs. For example, one proven design consists of three or four full trees that are crossed to form a pyramid. The bases of the trees should be braced together using four to six feet long pieces of lumber. Holes should be driven through the base of the trees and the weights should be attached using #12 UF cable. The structures will stand upright on the bottom and have a height between 10 and 16 feet. Structure can either be set out as single structures or in groups of 3 to 5 trees in either a triangular setup or set in a line down the slope of drops-offs. Structure should be weighted with concrete blocks (2 to 2.5 feet in length) weighing approximately 60 pounds each. They should be placed in 5 to 10 feet of water near points, creek channels or artificial drop offs. Another design may be the use of stake beds. For ponds less than one acre, one fish structure is plenty. Otherwise, use one fish structure per 2 or 3 acres.

Spawning beds for bream are also useful for catching fish. Spawning beds are made by covering portions of the pond with gravel to create areas desired by bream. Spawning beds should be located in 2 to 4 feet of water near locations that are convenient for fishing. Use 3 to 5 cubic yards of washed gravel (1/2 to 1 inch in diameter) and place so that a spawning site approximately 12 to 15 feet in diameter is created. One should avoid sites that have a sedimentation problem.

Next week will be the final part of this two-part series.

James L. Cummins is Executive Director of the Mississippi Fish and Wildlife Foundation in Stoneville, Mississippi. Known as "Wildlife Mississippi," the Foundation is a non-profit, conservation organization founded to conserve, restore and enhance fish, wildlife and plant resources throughout Mississippi.