Beandaddy,
I have the financial resources to spend on a pond. I've lived the American dream in a small way.

I'm in Sheboygan county. Where are you at?

I have done some reading at DNR site about ponds. The property I'm looking at (at least the one mentioned in the original post) doesn't have any special interest ( DNR designated waterway) to the DNR. I would still need to go thru a permit process to get a OK from the DNR. Need a permit if in a wetland or connects to or is within 500 ft of nav. waterway. The creek is a nav. waterway. The first pond is not within 500 ft of the creek, all others are. The first 2 ponds are not in a wetlands, all others are. To apply for the permit requires some work and cost. I'm going to call DNR and see if I can get a hold of a water specialist. I'd like to get a some info on what they look for and time frames for permits. I'd like to know what I can do before I buy.

I'm not too keen on a constant put and take situation. Would prefer a self sustaining situation.

As far as the minnows go, I'm pretty sure that they are some type of minnow, I know what small Bass and Sunfish look like. These minnows were approx. 1 1/2" in length. I didn't see any other fish other than the minnows. I did see what might of been redds along the shore line. Hard to say for sure if they were redds.