You dig out a hole. Even though you never fill it with water or stock it with fish, eventually it will be full and have a variety of fish.

[ ] True
[ ] False

If it is a big enough hole, it will have fish (eventually).

either from floods (if close enough), birds and other animals, and people with buckets.

First will be the bullheads I bet.

True! birds will do it for you! eventually

how long is eventually? It also depends what you dig your hole over. Is the ground permiable? Is it porus? Is it above an aquafer? Just kidding dont mean to be anal, just joking around.

first the hole has to hold water, thats #1. #2 if you dont plan on stocking it, a big part of birds bringing in fish is how far is it from another body of water? and eventually may mean years or maybe just one year. First will be mud cats and bream, and you may never get bass because thier eggs are not as sticky nor placed quite as shallow as bream eggs.

Check out this discussion.

http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=119053&fpart=1

Depends...there's no absolute T/F answer.

First part is "eventually it will be full?"....only if it holds water. If you don't have good clay to line the pond, it may not hold water and never fill.

Second part is "will have a variety of fish?". That is not at all a certainty. The transport mechanism, whatever it is (people, birds, turtles, streams, overflows, etc.) must exist and must have nearby access to the medium.

I have several ponds, one over 75 years old. That old pond has never had a mud cat, bull head, or green sunfish...fish which some people say are carried to all ponds. It does have, as does every pond on my place, Gambusia minnows which have never been stocked.

So, it depends....

Interesting replies, thanks. I've always wondered if you could just dig a hole and let nature take it's course. I've had discussions with other anglers that birds would stock the pond for you. I guess it's true! Seems the key would be for the pond to be close enough to a creek, lake, etc, where birds could get access to stocking fish.

oops... "I have several ponds, one over 75 years old. That old pond has never had a mud cat, bull head, or green sunfish...fish which some people say are carried to all ponds. It does have, as does every pond on my place, Gambusia minnows which have never been stocked."

hmm.. I typed too soon! lol..

The key to building a pond and having it fill as quickly as possible is to make sure you place it where it it'll catch the most drainage. Keep in mind the drainage doesn't have to come just your property. Watched my uncle build several stock tanks and never stocked a one. Within 5 years, there were some awfully BIG bass in them ponds!

problem with that is trying to control what you WANT in your pond. I wouldnt want run off from other peoples ponds to goto mine. You never know what UNWANTED kinds of fish may enter .

I know a guy who is having a lot of trouble with irrigation! He is having to install a special pump!

I am not sure why, buy you might look into it!

2 years ago during the drought, my 2.5 acre, 15 foot deep pond dried up completely for about 3 months. Everything other than maybe frogs buried deep in the mud died. The rains came and filled it up. It overflowed several times into Whitney which is about 200 yards away. This last spring the bluegill, black bass and crappie could all be seen nesting/spawning. The bluegill are a good size and the bass are about 10 inches. I stocked it with nothing after the drought yet it is full of fish. This same scenario has taken place several times over the years. The crappie never last more than about 3 years for some reason. I assume the bluegill eat up all their eggs and fry.

Lawmann,

That's really interesting. I've always believed that BG eggs could survive a long time(months) in mud bottoms of ponds and dry creek beds...seen it happen myself....but never have seen bass do that. Interesting. Consider yourself lucky the crappie didn't last.

when i moved out to my new house we had a small pond im the back yard.. its about 45ft by 50 foot. we never stocked it once and now im catching 2 pound catfish out of it. its full of threadfin shad and greensunfish..ive also caught bluegill in it.its amazing. we live near a creek so im guessing birds brought the fish over.