Building a 5-acre pond

June 14, 2022 5:47 PM

For the 1-year anniversary of his project, YouTuber BamaBass finally adds Bass to his 5-Acre Pond. Come for the detailed behind-the-scenes shots of stocking a pond, stay for the footage of owls taking a dust bath! [5-acre pond playlist]
posted by rebent (23 comments total)

Oh my god, I love this.

There's a certain brand of rich dude who builds a five acre pond on their property... and for the most part they aren't who I hang out with, but I have nothing ill to say someone with such an expensive project documenting it lovelingly on YouTube with a massive amount of soothing detail.

There's a model train YouTube station where a man made sure the garage they added to their house had an upstairs just so he could turn the entire floor into a HO scale train set up and I'm guessing the material costs alone is going to wind up costing more than most houses but... damn it is fascinating to watch,
posted by midmarch snowman at 6:31 PM on June 14, 2022 [4 favorites]

I can't quite get a full view of the pond or surrounding landscape in the drone shots. Does he not have an emergency spillway? Does the pond not have a watershed, so he thinks it doesn't need one?
posted by agentofselection at 6:58 PM on June 14, 2022 [1 favorite]

any pointers for which of the 37 videos contain the owls?
posted by scruss at 7:26 PM on June 14, 2022 [1 favorite]

The one I posted, the 1 year video, has some really cool owls, but a ton of the other videos show some owl activity. The videos feature a similar series of updates - from pond projects, to deer cams, to backyard ducks, and installing a cabin.
posted by rebent at 7:36 PM on June 14, 2022 [1 favorite]

There's a certain brand of rich dude who builds a five acre pond on their property...

I feel like this is sort of a sweet spot for rich-dude kookery. Money, but not build-a-library or endow-a-hospital or wreck-democracy money, but do something idiosyncratic but heartfelt with an unreasonable amount of investment and dedication money. I feel like if you’re motivated by wealth this is the right level to aim for, whichever direction you’re coming at it from.
posted by mhoye at 8:08 PM on June 14, 2022

In case anybody here is thinking of imitating him, a little guidance for you (pdf download).
posted by agentofselection at 9:14 PM on June 14, 2022 [2 favorites]

i've seen some DJs really drag it out but I gotta say waiting an entire year for the bass drop is something else
posted by cortex at 10:40 PM on June 14, 2022 [17 favorites]

OK this is amazing.
I'm going to have to watch all of this.
I recently put a tiny pond into my tiny backyard and as I can't realistically turn the rest of my property into a wetland, much as I want to, this will allow me to live the dream vicariously.
posted by Zumbador at 11:23 PM on June 14, 2022 [1 favorite]

If I had build a 5 acre pond money I would probably do it too. Although, my 5 acre pond would be a lot different from this one.

I wish he went into more detail about plants. I found the vegetation video on the playlist very underwhelming even though plants are probably the most interesting part of setting up a pond or planted aquarium. I didn't get the impression that he has put enough plants in for the long term health of the pond and fish, but he did say he talked to a biologist so it may just be that he doesn't find it to be an interesting vlog topic. Seems like he is going to have very green water with how he has it right now, at least until nature forces more plants along the waterline.
posted by forbiddencabinet at 11:26 PM on June 14, 2022 [4 favorites]

Hobby farms are a whole sub-genera on YouTube these days.

I'd like to see the budget for this project, it has to be millions.
posted by Bee'sWing at 4:03 AM on June 15, 2022 [1 favorite]

apologies for hijacking this into an AskMe, but as a non-fisherperson, what's the attraction of bass? i never understood why bass fishing is its own sub-genre.
posted by glonous keming at 4:36 AM on June 15, 2022

I think it's just because they're plentiful, relatively easy to catch, and have some heft to them. As a kid I used to fish in a tiny neighborhood pond that was only an acre or two. Most of the time I caught pumpkinseeds and bluegills but this one time I caught an enormous largemouth bass. Even though the fish was only 16" long and probably weighed 5-10lbs, it almost ripped my the rod out of my hands and it was an effort just to reel in the line.

But considering that the bass fishing sub-genre also produced bass boats which are pointless, idiotic expressions of machismo/wealth (do you really need an outboard motor that large to catch freshwater fish? Seriously?) I wouldn't be surprised if bass are just the fish obnoxious people landed on when deciding how they wanted to stroke their egos.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 4:56 AM on June 15, 2022 [2 favorites]

Agree about the plants. My partner and I rarely yell at the TV, but we constantly want him to plant native plants, and maybe grab some buckets of pond muck from local natural areas to bring in some culture.
posted by rebent at 6:00 AM on June 15, 2022 [4 favorites]

Bass are attractive to sport fishers because of their fight, and tendency to jump up into the air in the process. As opposed to a Northern Pike, which feels like you are snagged on a rock.

The "Bass boat" on the top of the page is absurd. A bass boat needs shallow draw, as they tend to be in shallower water, amongst stumps and the like.

Ponds: I have 2 ponds. Sadly, neither is swim-able. Crayfish and frogs are abundant. Deer come to drink. Racoons appreciate a place to wash their food. They are filled only from run-off water. Shale and clay don't absorb much, and plenty runs off into the ponds. Was quoted $30k to improve one of them with a "bog filter" and other refinements.
posted by Goofyy at 6:45 AM on June 15, 2022 [1 favorite]

> Even though the fish was only 16" long and probably weighed 5-10lbs

A 16" bass probably weighs about 2 pounds, give or take. A rough formula for bass is length (in inches) minus 12, then divide by 2 equals weight in pounds. Length (inches) multiple by girth (inches) squared, then divided by 800 will also give a pretty good weight estimate (in pounds) for most species, including bass. It' s just more trouble to take a girth measurement.

A 5 pound bass is something most serious bass fisherman will have a good chance of catching eventually. A good fish but not a once-in-a-lifetime event. A true 10 pound bass is extremely rare in most of the country and catching one is an incredible accomplishment and/or stroke of luck. It does really vary by state though in the US. Florida strain largemouths are generally larger than northern fish.

> I think it's just because they're plentiful, relatively easy to catch, and have some heft to them

Bass are pretty hardy and tolerant of a variety of water temperatures and oxygen levels. They're also, by far, the #1 most popular freshwater game fish in the United States.
posted by paulcole at 7:01 AM on June 15, 2022 [1 favorite]

I'll cut my childhood some slack. Even if it was only a pound, it was by far the largest fish I'd ever caught and like all fish stories it's only gotten larger with time.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 8:14 AM on June 15, 2022 [1 favorite]

Most of my land is on drained former wetlands, and I would very much like to re-form the drainage canal so it is more fish-friendly (and generally wild-life friendly). But this would have to be a joint project with all the neighbors and they do not agree. Maybe there will soon be government incentives that change their mind. We still have tools from before the drainage 200 years ago, that show how they caught eels and trout back then.
Instead, my granddad dug some little ponds in another part of the land which is reforested desert, with the intention of setting out crayfish. But in draught seasons, they dry out completely, so no crawfish. They do have beautiful vegetation and a complex insect and bird population.
posted by mumimor at 8:19 AM on June 15, 2022

Munimor, what kind of biome do you live in? Swamp, desert, farm, houses... Probably not in Michigan or Alabama, right?
posted by rebent at 9:06 AM on June 15, 2022

There is no sport in this, and nature builds the best ponds. The builder, though, has a nice voice, cares about animals, maybe after he gets in some cattails and horsetails, and willows, etc, it will be nicer to look at and more for the birds, and cover for ducks and ducklings. Black berries, and you name it, pottawatomie plums for fruit eating birds. Obviously, he can do what he wants, or wonts.
posted by Oyéah at 10:29 AM on June 15, 2022 [1 favorite]

Munimor, what kind of biome do you live in? Swamp, desert, farm, houses

I'm in Northern Europe. Right now I'm a little too overworked and tired to translate the literature, but I may get back with links in the weekend if this thread is still alive.

Short version, though: Where I live is on an ocean sand bank that grew into solid land during the Bronze Age. It gradually became a temperate forest with swampland sections, and a very rich Viking base, but during the late Middle Ages it was overcut*, and desertification began. By the 17th century farms like mine had to relocate closer to the remaining wetlands in order to survive, and the arable land became more and more scarce. Our farm moved twice within a hundred years, but through both skill and accident it never went completely bankrupt. Most of the farms in our formerly wealthy area were given up. I think there are 8 farms left, where there once were 30. During the late 18th and 19th centuries, the proces of recovery began, and it took so long that people I know and are still alive have worked as children planting resilient plants that could hold back the desert. Heck, my granddad planted to stop the desert in my living memory, though I wasn't a child laborer, and I remember the pervasive smell of the sand. I can understand why my neighbors don't want to reverse the hard work they and their parents and grandparents put into the land.

Right now, temperatures go from -10 to +30 celcius, but even within my own lifetime, they have fluctuated wildly. I remember building a snow house in April, and on the other hand going 5 km away to get water during some summer droughts. After the forest has grown, we don't have the extreme droughts anymore, but it can still get very dry.

That said, most of the 19th and 20th century improvements have turned out to be ecological ticking bombs. Our drained and over-used fields are basically dead plains of sand, and growing grains on them might as well be understood as hydroponic agriculture. I use them for livestock right now, and people should know that this can be an important step on the way towards a more sustainable land use, if you do it right. You won't be able to afford sustainable beef every day, but it can be sensible to eat it once or twice a month, because livestock can help in the process of recreating biodiversity and healthy earth. (I personally host my neighbor's horses, another neighbor has the cattle).

If/when the sea rises, my land will be an island. I'll have to buy a boat and learn to sail it. Our main town will drown, like Atlantis.

Also, here natural forest is technically defined as forest that has been untouched for fifty years, and parts of my granddad's planting qualifies for that. I let trees lie when they fall and there is a rich wildlife. But I manage other parts of the forest, because some of the theories they had about forestry in the 60s are not really sustainable. I don't know, I just felt I had to say that.

Relevant to the OP: I think that project could be a very interesting project, but I agree that the plant side of it is immensely important. It should include both plants in the pond and on the edges of the pond. I'm also thinking that shading trees could add some diversity that could be valuable. My little ponds get a longer lease of life from strategic shade.

*today, we use a lot of oil and coal. 1100 hundred years ago here, and up to very recently, timber was an essential ressource, for building houses and ships and for heating and cooking. In many areas of the globe, forests were depleted, and ecological catastrophes ensued.
posted by mumimor at 10:56 AM on June 15, 2022 [7 favorites]

He seemed pretty clear about the biologist's advice re. plants.
posted by ryanrs at 4:48 PM on June 15, 2022

This guy is not building Fishtopia. He is building Fish Thunderdome.
posted by ryanrs at 1:20 AM on June 16, 2022

This guy is not building Fishtopia. He is building Fish Thunderdome.

He's building a fish feedlot. Fishing there would have all the sport of "hunting" a cow at your local dairy farm. This has basically zero habitat and close to zero cover for the fish. Water parameters are maintained by chemical additions and keeping vegetation out, not by creating a more natural nutrient cycle. It's intended to grow large bass, fast, and make them easy to catch.

It's interesting, though, that there local businesses who specialize in bass pond management -- clearly this is a Thing in that area.

I'd like to see the budget for this project, it has to be millions.

I'd like to see the budget also, but I suspect we would be surprised at how cheap this is. Five acres at an average depth of 6 feet is only 48,400 cubic yards, and all they were doing was hogging it out and placing it as an earthen dam, no hauling off or hauling in. Since there is no public funding involved they aren't paying Davis Bacon or prevailing wage, and you can see from the equipment used that it isn't a high-efficiency operation.

So at a guess maybe a couple of hundred thousand for moving the dirt plus half of that for hauling in and placing the clay layer? Even doubling that guess keeps this easily within "dude with hobby farm" level. Hydroseeding is cheap and so are a few loads of pea gravel; nothing else shown should cost a lot other than the subcontracted pond management. It looks like maybe it will be a low-key commercial operation, also, with the PITT tagging and so on, so likely the plan is to have it earn a profit in the long term.

Does he not have an emergency spillway?

It sure doesn't look like it has any kind of spillway or way to drain the pond. I wonder what the expected lifespan is intended to be?
posted by Dip Flash at 6:23 PM on June 17, 2022