Advice on pond building for fish?

Pondboss is the resource for this. They will get you pointed in the right direction. Loads of info there.

Right off the bat though, catfish with bass and bream in a 1ac pond isn’t recommended. The first thing you’ll read on there and the best advice is you have to establish your goals for the pond and understand its limits.

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Paging Nascar...

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beat me too it

I'll put in a request on the O50B

As long as it holds water. There are a lot of stories about people digging ponds, filling them, and then the water seeps out because the ground will not swell and seal up.

Not telling you to have a professional do it but you might want to drill a core sample or two to see if it will hold water without having to do some remediation. Need to make sure it will hold water. This way you can plan for that now.

catfish will take over a 1AC pond quickly
I'd do one or the other but not both

you'll need to aerate if you fill will well water

Buy the Management of Recreational and Farm Ponds in Louisiana from LSU AgCenter Store. It cost a dollar for a digital download and has everything plus more regarding pond design.

LINK

i have +/-10 acres draining into a 2.5 acre pond - overland flow. i have not had any water quality problems as the drainage area is vegetated pretty much year round.
in my experience, catfish will make your water a little muddy since they scrounge around on the bottom naturally.
DON'T get hybrid bream.
DON'T get 1/2 black bass and 1/2 fla bass - go with either one or the other. i suggest native.
DON'T get white sac-au-lait as they will over-populate quickly in a small pond.
as said earlier, get a core sample. nrcs will come do this for you for either very-low or no-cost.
ideally you want your clay content to be over 25%. however, i have gotten ponds to hold water with a clay content as low as 17%, but that is a different story (that i'm happy to share if the OB feels like reading an abbreviated primer on soil chemistry).
good luck!

I'm no pro but let's break it down.

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(as the clay soil has a very high seasonal water table in the winter),

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Make sure the damn or overflow is very well supported in case of heavy rainfall.

Second thing is the water source, I'd pump it from an adjacent stream. The only downfall might be some other species of fish might enter but you'll also get that from birds.

Third thing to consider is food before you put your

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the best/easiest mix of species is largemouth bass, red ear bluegill, and channel catfish

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I still also throw out fish food. (Have caught several brim over 1 lb.)

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trying to make it good for fishing and hunting, etc.?

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No reason not to have a shallow end to try and get some ducks

I have a 1acre pond that will be stocked with channel cat. Yes bass are delicious but I dont want to have to go out there and try to decide what those picky lil frickers wana eat that day. Catfish will eat hot dog weiners all day erryday.

I don’t know much about selling dirt but the quote for the dirt work is about in line with what I’ve seen tossed around. Highly doubt you’re gonna get that for dirt. I can’t stress enough, do your homework here. You’re gonna be pissed at yourself if you sink a bunch of money into it and realize later on you could have saved some headaches before it was full of water, or worse, won’t hold water.

The source you use to fill the pond won’t matter nearly as much as the watershed and soil. You’re gonna get runoff whether you want it or not. That plus the soil will determine water quality long term, no matter how you fill it in the first place. Get soil samples of the watershed and the future bottom, lay down lime (no idea what soil up north is like but down here it’s a must), and take time to plan out your bottom features while it’s dry. Bream like gravel beds to spawn on and healthy bream are the key to healthy bass. Don’t skimp on stocking just cause the dirt work cost more than you thought, and don’t rush it.

Like I said earlier the first step really is deciding what you want out of it, learning if that goal is realistic, and then making that jive with your budget.