If YOU Could IMPROVE any of the City of Denton Community Fishing Lakes what would you do?

South Lakes Hobson Pond - Trout Pound on Neighborhood Fishing Program
South Lakes Londonderry Pond - behind Metzler's and McMath Middle School
North Lakes - Bonnie Brae Pond
North Lakes - Windsor Pond
Lake Forest Pond - Ryan Road behind Good Sam
Monticeto Pond Cross Timbers Park in neighborhood north of Monticeto at Hickory Creek

My name is Jim.
Reply on the string, PM me, call my office at 940-349-7465.
I would like to improve these ponds in the next few months but I need user input to have the most effect. Also we have a 501c3 called Fishing Friends if anyone would like to donate toward that goal not trying to solicit for $ really need the info but I figured I would throw it out there to cover all my bases. If you ever thought "Well, if they'da ask me I'd told 'em ............ instead of what they ended up doing."
Well, I'm asking.

I will start this rolling.


Keep the grass cut low around the edges of the ponds.

Tall grass freaks people out.

Bank fishermen want easy access.

Windsor Pond is a perfect example.

Adding well marked brush piles reachable from the bank.

I agree with FFM. Add some brush piles to some of the ponds. Most of them have no structure at all.

Thanks tell me more.

Structure, structure, structure!!!

Restrooms since they are in city parks.

A parking lot for Lake forest.

I love our ponds. You wont catch any records from them but they produce. I can hit any of them at any time and catch fish. I'll think about this and add to it.

I wonder if there is any cost effective strategy to clear up the water at the trout pond? Perhaps if there was an intermediary pond that allowed the silt to settle out or something.

I like a mix of tall and low grass. Weeds keep the fishing good but it's nice to have a well mowed path to fish from too.

Ponds with deep water off the damns should have big brush piles in them, give the fish a place to go in the winter and hot of the summer.

I would be happy to put them in for you.

Sink them so that you can float a bobber 4' deep over them.

They have to be marked so folks who fish for cat fish won't get hung up.

Signs telling everyone how many fish they can keep.

City parks have lower limits and stiff fines for going over.

Good input and thanks but keep them coming.

On the water quaility and clarity at Hobson Pond, the Trout pond at South Lakes we are negotiating for a grant to fund a Best Management Practice Control for the inflow of the pond comming in that essentially will do what you described it is somewhat of a filter garden that will allow some of the suspended clay particles that come in during a significant rain basically it is varing types of plants and rocks that will allow the clear up of the inflow of water and the clay solids in suspension already in the pond will eventually fall out / dilllute with additional rain and move downstream to fallout in the heavily vegetated creek channel.
And yes, lots of folks do not know that ponds 75 acres or smaller within the confines of a public park located within the incorporated city limits of a municipality are categorized as Community Fishing Lakes and have specific regulations and harvest limits. TPWD Outdoor Annual 2011-2012 pg32, 37-41. Probably be worthwhile to brush up on these pages prior to leaving with more than 5 fish per angler. Might get pricey and not be the experience anyone wants to leave with. I want folks to have the best experience they can and leave (after picking up their waste) happier than they figured they would when they pulled in. Nobody is smarter than everybody so I appreciate any feedback you folks can give me.
Thanks

What about stocking of the ponds I know that south park gets trout in the winter and catfish but what about the other ponds any bass or crappie stocked?

Community Fishing lake regs << Click
The link in the TPW outdoor annual takes you to Lake Lewisville

For white and black crappie, their hybrids and subspecies, minimum length limit = 10 inches. Daily bag limit = 25 in any combination.

I don't think that's true in Denton.

I looked at the city web site and they link you to this for size and bag limits. I also thought it was different.

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/regulations/fish_hunt/

Also found this.

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/fishboat/fish/action/fishregs2.php?water=cfl0

If you take 25 crappie a day out of a small pond you will wipe out the population in one season.

Certainly all the bigger ones.