I need some opinions.

[WeldonHunter]

I will continue tomorrow (or mabe ill go back out in a little bit) and i will defiantly take one then...gotta love shovel work... Im sure he will be quiet now

Gotta love that. Yeah I guess he won't be over now. You know I had a similar situation as you. I didn't have a busybody neighbor buy one that would come over to fish my pond. He and his kids. Before I got here my mother lived here for a few years and to keep the peace she let them do it. They came over and fished the thing almost out. All the while riding ATVs to it and into the pond. My mother told them no more ATVs and the tried sneaking them down to the pond. Keep in mind this pond is only about 200 feet from their house so ATVs are not needed to get to it. When she asked why they disobeyed her they said their grandmother told them the pond was on their property. Not true I have the survey hanging on my wall. She later asked the grandmother why she told them this and her answer was because the previous owners had told them to stay off the property. What?

When I got here I never liked them just walking on to my place (I own it) but said nothing because my mother had given them permission. The never asked if we would like any of the fish they caught, never came over to visit unless they wanted to "borrow" something and never helped to restore the pond. Oh they offered when they saw I was fixing it up but never came over while I was doing it. The pond had washed out on one side and was 4 feet lower than it should be. I had to hand shovel and wheelbarrow yards and yards of dirt to fill it in. But I had to clear the brush and over grown forrest that had grown all around the pond since the previous owner had stop caring for the place 20 years before. They figured it was their right since noone had said anything to them. I put up with this for a few years then after seeing they were never going to help or contribute to the upkeep and were only users I went down one day and revoked their permission. I was asked why and I simply told them I can't afford the liability. The dad knew why I said this because he'd sued someone while on their property and won $80,000. I still don't know the whole story behind this but I'm not taking any chances. After I said this the next statement was to his kid "Come on Bubba, lets get the f**k out of here". No respect or apology or even thanks for the use of "my" pond and the fish it put on his table for years while I owned the place. My response was "That's another reason"

[Junk Yard Dog]

I got a big water hole sitting some 30 feet from me, it's a historically significant spot that attracts a wide spectrum of trespassing idiots that I have to deal with sometimes daily. Fishermen, rock collectors,history nuts, young lovers, kids fooling around, satan worshiping nut jobs who are attracted because people died here years ago, thieves, and the curious. There are fish in it, small ones anyway, but I still catch people trying to catch them. The property is posted, and the entrances are gated, yet still they come. I am lucky in that all of my neighbors are either to old, smart or scared of me to think about messing around in there, but enough assholes come in from the outside to make up for that.

[pacanis]

Hey, you're not the one running around at night tying twigs together, making small piles of stones and scaring the campers are ya?

[Junk Yard Dog]

No, anyone would rather find twigs and stones, even ghosts rather than find me with my shotgun, .357 magnum, and with a real big grouch on.

[WeldonHunter]

The funny thing is I don't have anyone else that comes here uninvited. They did it for so many years they felt entitled. Everyone here has ponds so that cuts down on the need to come here. Don't get me wrong I have quite a few other neighbors that come to fish but they are not lowlife, druggies that would sue me. Oh and there's a bunch of fish in that pond now. Since I restored the pond and have kept them off my buddy's kid pulled a 5lb. largemouth out of their last summer. The pond is now twice the size it was when I got here and that helped too. I don't mean to hijack this thread but I can definitely identify with Avenger in what he's doing. Especially now that this is going in the direction he's taking but getting the shovel out and doing some digging to make things better. I'll post some pictures of the pond before and after and the fish I talked about. It is a beatiful pond...now after hard work. I know he has his work cut out for him and if I was there I'd lend a hand for sure. All done with a shovel, chainsaw and hand tools.

This is the offending breach during repair.


and after repair.


Looking down at the pond through the brush before it was cleared. Yes there's a pond there. It's to the left.


After it was cleared.


Same area but during spillway relief to maintain drainage.



The whole pond before it filled


And after it filled. The summer picture is partially filled and the winter picture is completely filled and running over the spillway.



End result. Priceless!!

[desdem12]

Nice pics Weldon, looks like a nice relaxing place. Love the snow pics

[pacanis]

That's beautiful, Weldon.
There's a pond behind me. I would love to own that land someday, but I don't think it will happen. My neighbor keeps trails back to it open, but it's getting really overgrown and scummy. Wood ducks and heron hang out there, so I'm assuming there is some kind of fish in it. I would love to have a pond. Yours is awesome. Beautiful pics.

[Drago]

Awesome pond! I wish I had a pond, but I'd have to break about 100 laws in stopping up the seasonal stream that runs through my property. Still...A week and a bulldozer can wreak some serious havoc, before anyone would find out!!

[WeldonHunter]

Thanks Guys. Again avenger I didn't mean to take over your thread but it just goes to show you that your hard work will pay off and it can be done without heavy equiptment. It just takes a lot longer and quite a few nights of aches and pains, lol. I almost forgot the last picture. That's the 5lb. largemouth I mentioned earlier.

[desdem12]

That doesn't stop them over here Drago. They did a fly over the yakima river and found like over a 100 illegal and dangerous dams on it. So they went out and tore some down and then did another fly over a month later and most were already back up. You guys get a lot of flooding over there, i would be tempted to have a catch pond there too.

[MN Fan]

Weldon, I am impressed! That's awsome! The whole area...the pond, the banks up to the pond, the area arount it, the whole place looks gorgeous! I too love the snow pics

Wow, I can tell you worked pretty hard. The results are amazing! Nice largemouth too!

[avenger]

Your fine man I enjoy looking at pictures and hearing stories...that is a very nice pond..it looks like a very nice comfortable peaceful place.

Here are some pictures of my progress. If it wasnt so cold out i wouldn't lose my strength as quick and i would be able to breathe better. So far i have a little trench and im loosening the rest of the dirt up..so next time it will be weasier to scoop out..which will probably be tomorrow ...here are the pics

[WeldonHunter]

Weldon, I am impressed! That's awsome! The whole area...the pond, the banks up to the pond, the area arount it, the whole place looks gorgeous! I too love the snow pics

Wow, I can tell you worked pretty hard. The results are amazing! Nice largemouth too!

Thanks I'm particularly proud of it. It was a lot of work with more to come. You can see how long the place was neglected. The dam has trees growing out of it that are at least 20 years old. Since it's filled up there's quite a few that have died and fallen into the pond. Fish habitat, lol. I still have work to do.

[pacanis]

Good start avenger.

[Junk Yard Dog]

Looks like a nice place to take a nap, the pond that is, not avengers shooting range My 'pond" is a massive hole in the rock, 600'x1100' 500 foot deep.

[MN Fan]

Looking good avenger!

[pacanis]

Looks like a nice place to take a nap, the pond that is, not avengers shooting range My 'pond" is a massive hole in the rock, 600'x1100' 500 foot deep.

Where are you at in NY, Bossman?

[WeldonHunter]

Thanks avenger. I'll be watching this thread for updates. Looks good so far. Looks like you have a little help. All I had was the dog. She was on varmint patrol. The dam had armadillo holes in it 6 feet deep and woodrats living in them. I had to excavate them partially and I'd send her in to get 'em. What better job for a rat terrier than killing rats?

[WeldonHunter]

Looks like a nice place to take a nap, the pond that is, not avengers shooting range My 'pond" is a massive hole in the rock, 600'x1100' 500 foot deep.

Where are you at in NY, Bossman?

That's not a pond Boss it's a quarry. A granite quarry too I bet. When I lived in Maryland they were all over the place. My family actually lived in a place called granite Maryland which is up the road from Woodstock, Maryland. That was in the late 1600's to mid 1700's.

[Ironnewt]

Back on topic a bit. First hang in there Avenger, you will get there eventually. Another couple of options. One is to dig a hole to climb in and then shoot through a cement piece of water pipe, sewer pipe . They are usually about 2' across and 6' long. It directs any round 'that gets away' from you down that tube and into your backstop. Keeps you from firing too high or too left or too right. I've seen them on Military ranges. Another idea is a series of baffles made of seasoned wood. You make a box frame and the edge closest to the targets is lower that the edge closest to your shooting position. The whole thing is supportrd on the 4 corrners and is elevated. The wood hangs down and is usually 6" to 8" apart running parallel to the front and back. If you shoot high you hit one of the boards. I've seen this at a few gun clubs and it allows you to use benches for shooting. Good Luck