In
1985 my wife Kathryn and grandson Jason
were rambling the backcountry roads
in eastern Tennessee looking for interesting
sights. Down a one-lane gravel road
she spied an old run-down log cabin
with a for-sale sign nailed to a tree.
I'll never forget the first time I saw
it. It was hard to see from the road
because of all the kudzu growing on
the front of the property. The drive
was rutted out so badly I had to leave
my car at the road and walk up to the
cabin. It is a two story (two room)
cabin with a covered porch, and some
kind of contraption built onto the back.
When you got to the porch there wasn't
a step, just a steady incline all the
way to the back door. The first thing
I said was "I wouldn't want to
have anything to do with trying to fix
this place up".
In June 1986 we bought the farm. (The
cabin and 40 acres of mountainous land.)
The Realtor told us the cabin was about
150 years old.
Since childhood I had dreamed of having
my own fishing pond, so Kathryn and
I started looking around for an appropriate
spot. There was one section between
two hills that consisted of dead trees,
and a couple sinkholes. At first we
talked about digging it ourselves with
picks and shovels. We still laugh about
that foolish idea. Given the fact the
whole farm is one huge shale rock we'd
have had nothing but a mosquito infested
frog pond. After doing some research
about ponds, and talking to some local
farmers, we called the local county
extension agent. He came to the farm
and told us the location was all right,
and would support a quarter acre pond.
The best decision we made was in choosing
the heavy equipment operator to dig
our pond. His name is Raymond Hall and
his work is superb. He gets on his big
"Cat" at daylight, and doesn't
get off until dark. I've even seen him
eat his lunch while sitting on it.
Watching this pond "evolve"
was one of the most fascinating experiences
of my life. This first, and still favorite
pond was stocked with a balance of Largemouth
bass, Hybrid bluegill, Channel catfish,
and Fathead minnows.
I became a member of the Tennessee
Aquaculture Association and discovered
Japanese Koi. I was hooked. The sport
fish have been moved to other ponds,
and the first pond now holds only decorative
pond fish - most of them named.
We will continue to build ponds and
tanks until we're too old and crippled
to get around I guess. I love being
a fish farmer.
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