An Outdoorsman’s Journal: The pond/new digs
Hello friends, As you read this, I am high up on a Montana mountain with my 23-year-old daughter Selina Walters hunting elk and mule deer. I have to meet two deadlines as this is a 12-day trip, so I figured I would write about my pond and my newest business investment.
With the lump sum from my three steers I sold in September, I purchased a 14-foot, enclosed Stealth Trailer that is rigged for camping. In other words, I can haul my ATV and its trailer, and when I get to where I am going, after unloading the ATV and trailer, I can fold down a bed and sleep in comfort. This has been a dream of mine for quite some time and though I will probably only be able to use it on about 25% of my trips, it will be nice when I can.
As soon as I hit “send” on this column, I am literally loading the trailer and heading for the mountains, which will be a major challenge as I will be alone and it’s a big rig, probably about 9,000 pounds loaded.
In my dream of dreams, the new rig, 2016, will be set up for ice fishing with four holes put into the floor that I can fish out of. That investment will have to wait a year, as I spent more money than I got from the steers, if you know what I mean.
About all I can say is that I look at this rig parked in front of my house and dream big dreams.
The pond, Lake Matilda! Eighteen months ago, I came up with the idea to put a pond in my front yard and what is now a stocked, 14-foot lined pond has consumed much of my life. Over the last two warm seasons I have put in over 700 manhours hauling sand and black dirt and planting. The entire pond, which is 100 feet by 90 feet, has 6 inches of sand over the liner and every bit of it was thrown with a shovel.
This spring I began the immense job of making sure the liner was covered and then repeated the process with black dirt “above water” and began planting shoreline vegetation. At the same time, I cut every bush that was in front of my house and spaced them 10 feet apart in the water for fish habitat. In late April, I purchased 3 gallons of fathead minnows and stocked Lake Matilda with them. They spawn up to five times a season and I currently have lots of fatheads. I also planted 65 bluegill in May, but by the middle of June they were dying and that bothered me a lot. I had my good friend Robb Langhar from Aquatic Biologists test the pond and I had no dissolved oxygen. Robb has been my go-to guy for all investments and education on the pond, and he sold me an AquaBio ten shot diffuser and a compressor. My problem ended within an hour and that was probably one of the best investments I have ever made.
Last Sunday, I invested in 220, 3- to 5-inch perch that I was told would spawn for sure next spring. Perch excite me.
Two weeks ago, I pretty much finished my shoreline dirt moving/planting and what a relief that was. Without doing it, erosion would become a major issue.
I do not have TV and do not want it. Every night I am home, I sit by the pond and relax before I go in the house for the night, which is generally between 9 and 11.
As most of you may know, I lost my partner in life, Michelle Chiaro, 26 months ago. Michelle was addicted to the outdoors, farming and most importantly, water. In our world I called Michelle “Matilda,”especially on date night, which was Tuesday nights.
I am pretty confident that Michelle is with me 24/7 and I think she would like her lake!
Stay active; it works! Sunset
Mark Walters
