I Finally Finished Digging My Backyard Pond! (And Made It BETTER) | Pond Restoration part 4

Danglers, welcome back to the backyard pond restoration. This has been an awesome series. I have had fun filming this and I am I'm passionate about ecology and I'm passionate about my backyard. I'm trying to uh build something that we can, you know, enjoy for years and I can just come out here and just enjoy the frogs croaking, the bluegill nipping at the surface and the bass just boom. So, last time if you guys tuned in, we we've had some struggles. You know, we drained the pond first and it was just muck and muck and muck and we didn't know how much and we got old little John Beer over here and we got it into the pond and just buried it. got it stuck multiple times and we said, "Well, we were going to have to get something bigger." So, ended up renting a skid steer, brought it out here, and I thought we were going to carve this thing out in 2 hours. And we ended up getting it stuck, deep, deep stuck. And I thought it was we were going to have to get a wrecker out here, but we were able to get it out. Shout out to the neighbors for helping out and uh especially our neighbor Josh who came over um with his son Parker and they helped me out for a couple of days and just did major major damage. He's got a skid steer with a tooth bucket and just dug this thing out. So me and him were able to make serious progress and reach the bottom. And we didn't know. We started digging in and we thought, "Oh my gosh, we're going to have to get an excavator out here. There's no way." Cuz we kept getting the skid steer stuck and it was just iffy. We're like, "We're going to have to wait months." And then I came out here one evening with a stick and I said, "Oh my goodness, I'm hit. There's only like 4 in of this this muck left. We finally hit the bottom." And once I knew that we were not going to get stuck anymore, I was able to to scoop out and shape out our new pond now that is around 8t. We're going to get a measurement. Uh I actually ended up digging it to around 10 ft and I hit water. I couldn't even believe it. Water was coming in and then I took a little break. I looked at the puddle and it was like jin clear. It was a gen clear puddle in this clay and I thought, "Oh, this is it." you could see it. So, I don't know the final depth measurement. We'll get a string and we'll see how how deep it is. But, I ended up stacking some more clay inside of the pond just to be safe. I got to thinking about it. I got nervous. So, I took some of our clay, I back filled it, and we have just tracked over this thing hundreds and hundreds of times just going back and forth, back and forth with the skid steer. It is packed in. So, I feel confident that we're not going to have to add any bites. I feel confident that we're not going to have to roll this thing. Uh, it is it is baking right now. It has been in an oven. You know, we did all this digging out in about 5 days and it has just been 100 plus. I don't want to jinx myself, but I think we got really good soil composition here and I think we're going to be all right. So today we are going to finish up doing the final back dragging, grading, getting some of the loose dirt with the John Beer right here. And it's not just the pond that's benefiting from this restoration. We also have the woods. I'm going to show you guys what we've been doing there. And we are going to add some gravel bars in here for some ecological benefits. So let's go take a look at this pond. So, let's just start at something I didn't even think about when we were starting this project. But what has formed over the hundreds of loads that have come out of here with skid steer and the tractor is we have formed a boat ramp, guys. This is like the perfect grade of a boat ramp. And I will be able to put any of the boats in the Dangle Dome in here really. So, if we need to get in here to do some algae control, uh, vegetation control, we can launch the boat in here and we can, you know, get around the pond edges. Come on in here. We might even launch the silver bullet in here just for fun. This was the scariest part was going down at this grade and then and then going, where are we going to hit the bottom? We actually didn't hit the bottom from this side. that I I came across on the other side and we ended up hitting it. But I thought this thing is going to be 12T, you know, when it's all over cuz it just kept going down and down. Similar grade throughout here. Um on this side, it's I'm going to say it's about 8 ft as well. In this hole, there is a little bit of a ridge in the middle. I'm going to say it's a 1 ft rise in the middle. So, kind of a saddle between the two pools. And then over here, we have a shelf. So, this is going to be shelf number one. I didn't just want to make this a big bowl. That's great for maximizing the the volume. However, I want to make this a paradise for these sunfishes. They need areas where they feel comfortable. They can come up, feed on bugs, they can spawn. There might be more oxygenated water at at certain times on these shallow shelves. And before the bank was just like it was just a foot around the edge and there really was no good shelf provided for these fish. Then we come over here. We have kind of the similar situation as as the boat ramp. It's a shallow pocket. So I wanted to have like a little pocket right here that's great for spawning. A little more protection. We'll probably put a cypress tree or two back here. And that'll provide some afternoon uh protection from the sun. keep our oxygen levels up and keep that keep that shade, keep it cool. And then, of course, we'll have bugs from the trees in the riparian zone falling in. So, this will be a great area for sunfish to feed and then also the bass to feed on them. This over here is more of a ledge. Although it's a small pond, there's a lot going on. It reminds me of a lake. And we didn't even really plan it out this way. It was just as we started manipulating the the skid steers around this is just how it ended up being. You know, we had a we had a ramp right here in entrance and this ended up being real steep coming up with the bucket. These other slopes, these shelves we we were backing up and trying to go down and there's there was only so far. You could start with the bucket and dig in. So, it it just ended up being this way and but I love it. So, this is going to be the steep drop and this goes down. We'll measure it, but I think it's I think it's about 8 foot. This is where the water was coming up. So, I covered it up with, you know, about a foot and a half of clay. Back filled it in. So, then we'll come up on this shelf. I'm really excited about this area. This area already has a big elm tree over it. Lots of bugs in this thing. the fallout. The bluegill already liked to be here before, but they just had no water underneath. And it was nice cuz they had branches that had fallen in. There was some cover for minnows and things. Uh but now we're going to actually build some some minnow housing. And we're going to put in a gravel bar right here. And we're going to do gravel bars actually on all these shelves. So there's going to be areas where fish can separate, spawn, feed, and be happy. But because we already have the tree here, this this is going to be cooler and on these hot summer days, it's just going to be a killer spot to go catch some fish. I'm happy with the overall shape. I'm going to say that we at least doubled the volume, if not tripled. So, let's go take a look at the dirt that we have pulled out of this puppy. And what's amazing is most of the dirt that was from this pond has already been spread out. Instead of making like one ginormous pile, especially with a lot of the muck coming out, it was wet. What we did was we we took the skid steer and we basically took these bucket loads of wet stuff and we spread them out in the woods. So, this is actually solving two problems at once. Some of these old elm trees and pecans, they were just completely exposed at the roots. I was actually running them o running over them with the skid steer. There were huge root areas that were just coming up and the roots were starting to get damaged. So, we took that, we spread that all over those exposed roots and then built up any low spots and areas so we got a nice smooth gradual grade going down to the feeder creek. Could probably use the rest of this going back to do the same thing, but we've got some neighbors that want some dirt for some other projects. So, we're going to get rid of some of this and then keep a little bit for back filling. If we need to do anything around the pond, any kind of grading around the shop, we'll have some good quality dirt. Also, along the way, we have found lots of trash. Just little bits of stuff coming out out of the pond that that we missed. So, I've been going in and getting every little piece of trash. There was numerous little uh like little fish houses and stuff in there that got that pulled out with the with the buckets of dirt and we've taken those and those are basically going to be thrown away and we're going to start start a new with some fresh fish houses. >> All right, you guys know how I feel about it. Let's let's get the queen queen of the backyard here. Let's see what she thinks. >> Um it's impressive. I will say I thought we were done probably several days ago, but every time I look out here, you're still rolling and still going and still pulling dirt out. >> You got a little frustrated with me. >> I got a little frustrated. I think you've paid more attention to this pond than any other house project that we have ever done. So, yes, I'm a little frustrated. >> I only had a week with it. I was paying paying money to use that machine. >> But it was like 14 hours a day for seven days in a row. So, when I get a kitchen remodel, is that how it's going to be? >> The standard has been set. >> Oh, I will I do not have those skills. So, yes, you can work 14 hours on that kitchen. I will assist you, help you out. I if if I can bring you materials, >> okay, >> I only know how to use big machinery and bang things with hammers. >> Okay. So, when the garden is being built, >> I'll tell you a garden, baby. Okay. >> Actually, you know what? >> You need to learn how to drive this thing. I haven't even been on that thing. Which one is the go? >> It's a hydrostatic transmission. >> And well, you do have a brake on your left side, but it's like driving the golf cart. You know how you let off >> and it stops >> and it starts to stop? That's that's exactly how it is. To start this thing, you want to just >> put it on choke, let the pump start to work, and then your pigtails turn off. You just turn the key. >> Okay. Now what? >> This lifts your three point edge. >> So you want to pull that back. >> What? What is it lifting? >> Oh, that. Okay. >> All right. This is your leather joystick. So pull pull back. That's enough. and towards you with the pearl and obviously you down ride with it. Well, this is kind of fun. It's kind of like riding a horse. I can see why he likes this. I feel like I'm in a How would I do like that? There we go. That is kind of fun. And I feel like a kid in the sandbox like that. There we go. Okay. >> Yeah. Okay. Going down. No. Going down. Curl. Nope. Okay. Now go down. Is that good? What do you think? It's >> got some power. I can imagine the skid steer probably has some more power. >> It does. But there's something about a tractor that just >> feels like you're in America. Yeah. >> You know, now you know what it's like. I'm not sure we're going to hire you today, but we're more training. >> Hey, I'll mow the grass next time. >> I would love to see that. Someone would love to see that. All right, Ombres. Let's do our final touches. Heat up here. about all I can do. So, honestly, we didn't really do much with the tractor. All I did was kind of scrape the edges with the bucket, get some of that loose dirt, and it looks really smooth now. It looks kind of like a swimming pool if this were like three times the size of a a backyard swimming pool. Now, I want to get an accurate depth measurement. I think it's about 8 ft, but I really don't know. So, what I did was I took a 10ft pipe. I've got it marked for 8 and 9 foot as well. We're going to take some 50 lb mono. We're going to run it across to get our simulated water level and then we'll be able to go out in the middle and measure using our our long pole. So, we'll just tie it off from one end to the other here. See? Use this one. Okay, we'll run it across to the other side. >> Wanted the deepest part. You should go over there. Well, I still I'll still be able to see, I think. But accurate accurate point. >> So, I'm standing in the deepest part. Yep. There you go. >> We'll go right here. All right. That's pretty good right there. That's probably 6 in above where maximum water level would be. Hey, Gandalf stick. Look at our shelf depth. Shelf depths. It's about chest high. Now, this shelf right here, the depth of this was like the maximum depth before when I first came out here and some waiters. I walked out that was maxed out. Like I I I wasn't even worried about it going over my my chest waiters. So, we're already there at the edge of the shelf. I don't have a measurement on that. That's probably four 4 foot, something like that. All right. Now, let's go in. So, here's the water level. I cannot reach it. So, I would be completely underwater right here. And this is actually part of the saddle still. Let's get a measurement on that. That is right at 8 foot. And >> that's not even the deepest saddle. >> Yeah. >> So I bet you right here is 8 and 1/2t. 8 and 1/2. And you know, it's probably 6 in above water level. So I bet it's Yeah. Right at eight. Right at eight. Right here. Right at eight. You know, last video I was thinking it could be eight, it could be 10, it could go to 12. Well, it's definitely not going to be 12. 8 foot is where we're landing on. 10 foot is where we hit the water right here and we just backfilled it. Just being safe. Uh, ecologically, anything over 6t is going to be fantastic. I think having an extra couple feet is great just for, you know, dry conditions like we have right now. Um, but where we were before at a realistic average depth of maybe two foot with how shallow it was all the way around and being so just thick with muck, we've doubled the depth and I think we've doubled the volume entirely for this pond. So, it's a huge magnitude of difference. All right. So, the last thing we need to look at in this pond before we get to the gravel, still waiting on the gravel to arrive to uh create our gravel bars for the sunfishes is we do have a pipe in here. Was attached to a float valve that had kind of rusted out, but it's it was still functional. Um I have not turned it on since we built the shop. So, we're going to need another float valve, maybe a better, more attractive solution for adding water. But what I'm not going to do is just turn this thing on and let it fill with well water. Our water is um is soft, so it tends to float particulates in it. I'm going to let the natural rain water, the more acidic water, naturally fill this thing up and slowly um add well water over time as needed. But, you know, if we have a few feet of water in here, we can go ahead and start stocking our our basically our minnows and things like that and let those those rains naturally um start to fill it up and then we can do our vegetation around the edges. I'm thinking probably cattails. We're going to do some cattails in here. Maybe some some pondweed. We are going to test out to see if if this works and uh if we wanted to, we we could fill it up. So, let's throw a little water in here and let's see what it does. We're flowing, baby. >> Oh man, it like instantly turns to clay. >> Yeah, >> that's amazing. This is kind of interesting to watch actually to see what what when it is going to rain if it ever does in Texas again. Um what all this is going to do. I think all this loose stuff that I've been scraping is just going to wash wash out. We'll end up with some some erosion lines in here. But that's where having the riparian zone is nice where it's not just rushing into the sides. You know what would be fun is like if we if we made this that we just kept uh like a sprinkler on and made this like a mud sliding hole. >> The kids would absolutely love that. >> Like you just have like a some inflatables, raft and stuff. >> Yep. >> And you just slide around. >> Kids would love that. >> That would be cool. You know, they say the El Nino is coming this winter. It's going to be like very cold, a lot of snow, a lot of wet. >> Uh great timing on this pond stuff, honestly, cuz >> hopefully our pond gets filled up before then. We picked one of the top 10 driest months ever recorded in uh in Texas to dig this. So, we didn't have rain interference. And then on top of that, you're supposedly we're having an El Nino that's going to bring a lot of moisture and hopefully fill this thing up in the winter. And then the spring, it'll be a perfect time to uh get our our basses stocked in here after our bait fish stocking in the fall. So, timing couldn't be better. I'm seeing a mud hole right now is what I'm seeing. >> It's already holding. >> We just got the pea gravel delivery, y'all. And the last thing we're going to do today is set up these gravel bars in the pond. I was thinking, "Oh, how can I get these bluegill to just go crazy?" And it was just so silted in and there was a lot of invasive vegetation. It just made it really tough. So, now starting over, I'm excited to have a little more depth and the proper areas to put uh this pearavevel in. Pear gravel is great for a spawning bottom. So, what I'm going to do is I'm going to spread it out on these shelves. We're going to water it in. I'll just kind of smash it in. It's going to get silted in a little bit anyways, but it'll just allow these fish to have multiple spawning areas. Now, speaking of having awesome things in your pond, GooG Squad just launched our vermin. And this is an incredible summer pond fishing bait. Obviously, you can fish it in lakes, too. But I've just caught some toads on this vermin in some farm ponds and places where you actually have rats, you know, places that eat frogs and things like that. But anyway, it just dropped. Got some sick colors in it. Go check it out. Swim it in your local pond or lake and get crushed. >> Look how much I got there. Got a big one. >> Okay. Get big load. Like this. Like this. >> All right, babe. We're going to move some of this gravel over here. >> Let's go. This is about two tons of gravel right here. It's actually my first time grabbing gravel in the tractor. It's so nice. Nice and easy. All right, here we go. Kind of track over it. Get up here a little tighter. There we go. Looks pretty good. I'm going to I think I'm going to add another scoop just cuz this is such a prime area on our elm tree. And then this is actually one of the spots that I that I wanted to be gravel as well. So, works out perfect. Yeah, that's a full bucket. Oh, you definitely don't want to have any beers while you're doing this. Sounds like corn going into the deer feeder. Let's get that up a little higher over here. There we go. All right. How about a little at the boat ramp? And this is a spot that does hold a lot of shade, so it makes it really nice for uh to hang out in shallow water. Start up here kind of at the tippy top. Oh, this is going to be nice. This be nice for the uh for the boat, too. Let's have a look. Liking this a lot. Little gravel boat ramp. This is just going to be little spawner heaven. So, the other thing that we're doing is adding some rip wrap rock to our our feeder creek. So, when we do have big rains, it erodess less. And uh to be honest, I thought this was way more than five tons. about five tons. Yeah, but I could use three times as much as this. So, we'll see how far it goes. I thought we'd have extra to use the P, but it's not looking like it. Trying to put this like right in the so much at all. Heat up here. Heat. Heat. All right, danglers. We have got our pea gravel set up on these shelves. We've got our protective rip wrap from erosion in our our feeder creek. And we have dug out a pond, y'all. This has gone from a just catfish mud pit to actually now having some volume. And I can't wait to come out here months from now, years from now, and see the fish using these areas that we've set up. And we also have wellwater hooked up where we can keep this pond topped off. And we even have a gravel boat ramp. So, we got all the structures in place. The next step in the evolution here is going to be to add some cover. add some cover for our bait fishes and our sunfishes. And if I get just a wild tickly hair, I think I might add a boat dock, guys. I know it's kind of silly in a pond this small, but it is now deep enough to where we could set up a small boat dock. It'd be a place where we could have a feeder in place and eventually feed our fish and fish for them. So, if you want to see more of the evolution here in the backyard pond, subscribe to the channel and I'll see you guys on the next adventure.