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 that I sold in September I have 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, a 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 man-hours hauling sand, 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 three 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 bluegills 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 Aqua Bio 10 shot diffuser and a compressor. My problem ended within an hour and that was probably one of the best investments that I have ever made.
Last Sunday, I invested in 220, 3-5 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 be a major issue.
I do not have a TV and do not want it. Every night that 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
