DIY Bass Lake....

[BitBackShot]

So, is the plan on most of these lakes to build them where there's an existing stream in place, or are you just hoping to trap rain runoff at the bottom of a hill?

[Ride_Klein]

So, is the plan on most of these lakes to build them where there's an existing stream in place, or are you just hoping to trap rain runoff at the bottom of a hill?

Generally anything that is an active stream is a big no no to block or impound. These definitely have fall to them, and will have a well hooked up to keep them full.

[Ride_Klein]

Dirt work was done. Rock houses were stacked, and frankly I fell down on taking more pictures. Next was some artificial habitat. We started making PVC Trees and PVC "spiders"


PVC Spiders. We generally put these in 3 to 5 feet of depth and close together so they form a decent mass. Nice thing about the plastic is they are hard enough not to catch a hook but flexible enough to allow them to flex. You can get hung up in them but you have to try pretty hard.


The trees, the spiders, and some culverts that had defects in them. Culverts were a real find. If you're building a lake and you have a culvert manufacturer close make sure to drop by. They sell ones with chipped edges or cracks real cheap.


Trailer full of spiders


Had to buy some of the premade PVC trees to, just to test them out


More premade trees. We'll see which one does better.

[BURTONboy]

Is that steel angle in the trees?

Great find on the culverts! This new lake should be awesome.

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[Sticks&Strings]

Generally anything that is an active stream is a big no no to block or impound. These definitely have fall to them, and will have a well hooked up to keep them full.

Can you explain why a big no no? Does it have to do with silting in?

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[Patton]

Can you explain why a big no no? Does it have to do with silting in?

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Legal issues regarding blocking the flow of a creek/river.

[BitBackShot]

Legal issues regarding blocking the flow of a creek/river.

It must vary by county or river authority. Where my old place was, you were allowed to impound 100 acre feet of water from active streams without a permit. So a 10 acre pond 10 feet deep on average.

Definitely something you'd obviously want to look into before making plans.

[Ride_Klein]

Is that steel angle in the trees?

Great find on the culverts! This new lake should be awesome.

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Thanks. Looking forward to fishing the culverts in years to come. The stuff that looks like angle is actually made of pvc. The ones you buy are black and supposed to grow algae better than white.

Can you explain why a big no no? Does it have to do with silting in?

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Legal issues regarding blocking the flow of a creek/river.

It must vary by county or river authority. Where my old place was, you were allowed to impound 100 acre feet of water from active streams without a permit. So a 10 acre pond 10 feet deep on average.

Definitely something you'd obviously want to look into before making plans.

Yes, yes, and yes. Check with your local NRCS office or county agent so they can keep you on the straight and narrow.

[Ride_Klein]

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Water is flowing in. We started placing the PVC trees and the spiders. Most of the PVC Trees are withing casting distance from the bank. Some of the trees are 3' tall others are 5.5'tall. Should have a 1-2 feet of water over them at full pool.

You can see the "shallow" end of the ridgeline and created tributaries with laydowns and brush piles on them in the background of this pic. Stumps and gravel beds for spawning areas. We've noticed the bass like the road base style rock to stage on more than the pea gravel. Don't know why.

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Looking towards the shallow end. You can barely see it but in the background the two mounds will form a bridge overlay. Enough clearance to sneak a boat beneath the bridge (to be built later).

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windrows of brush/trees

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Call this the octopus. 8 trees radiating out over the manmade triburaries with the stump in the middle.

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Ridgeline and stumps/brush looking towards the dam side of the lake.

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A tangled mess of cover on the flat between ridges and man made creeks. This in in roughly in the middle and should be in 8' of water

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Two of the man made creeks join.

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These two pics show a fake tank dam in the middle. The man made creeks converge here and the area with water in it is the "blow out" as if this old tank had gotten washed out years ago. Always a favorite place to fish on big lakes. Hoping it plays out here as well. Dragged a boat in there, more rock, lots of brush/cedars, etc.

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The three humps are middle of this pic, almost under water. Couple of the culverts and the end of the point closest to the cameraman.

[BitBackShot]

Do you guys have to bring in clay very often, or is the soil just conducive to holding water where you typically build?

[TeamAmerica]

How much of the cut brush will float up and away? will it never really float if it doesn't have time to dry out and get submerged soon enough after cutting?

Awesome project - patience is a virtue.

[Ride_Klein]

Do you guys have to bring in clay very often, or is the soil just conducive to holding water where you typically build?

Soil is pretty good up here. We've hit a gravel seam on a different poperty but there was enough good clay to pack it back in.

How much of the cut brush will float up and away? will it never really float if it doesn't have time to dry out and get submerged soon enough after cutting?

Awesome project - patience is a virtue.

Most if it stays put because the water comes up real slow and it gets waterlogged. Lots of these trees were cut a year ago by chainsaw so the stumps could stay at the right height and the dozed could still move em around easy.

[ANSCAG]

Just spent the last hour going through this entire thread. Coolest follow along I've seen on TBH. Apparently, I run around with the wrong kind of friends! Very neat to see those healthy fish caught just on the screen, has to be an awesome feeling of accomplishment for y'all doing it in person. Congrats, and now we're all following along again watching this second tank come to fruition.

[Ride_Klein]

Just spent the last hour going through this entire thread. Coolest follow along I've seen on TBH. Apparently, I run around with the wrong kind of friends! Very neat to see those healthy fish caught just on the screen, has to be an awesome feeling of accomplishment for y'all doing it in person. Congrats, and now we're all following along again watching this second tank come to fruition.

Appreciate the compliments. Has been fun to say the least.

[Ride_Klein]

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Panorama looking towards the dam on the deep water section. You can see some of the cedars we started dragging on dam

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Big laydown on the next man made tributary. Stockpile of stumps just waiting to steal my tackle in the future.

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Gravel covered hump towards the shallow end. Fake road bridge area in the background. Lots of the "spiders" One side of the humps has a slope the other is piled or cut with a sharp drop off.

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Stumps, spiders, and more rock piles in the shallower end.

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Fake road bed to the left. Stumps and spiders. The shallow end has a bunch of runout and hoping the humps and artificial habitat will help make it productive

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This is a neat area and we'll see how it produces in the future. Dirt guy made the two ridges and then we stacked large trees like a railroad track for a good distance. 3 or 4 trees about 1 foot or two apart and then an 8 to 10 foot gap. Same thing again. Placing gravel and artificial habitat in the spaces.

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An idea on the spacing of the Rail Road

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Cedars, rock piles, and a boat on the other side of the three humps. Cedars are placed against the fake tank dam with the old blowout. Hope the prevailing winds can stack bait against this area and concentrate fish

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Windrow on the top of a ridge instead of down deep. Something for every season... hopefully.