I thought I'd provide an update on our pond. We were unable to do anything on it until the landowner I co-owned the pond with sold me his land. I guess I could have done something, but did not want to spend money to maybe increase the value of his land that I wanted to buy at some time, and he was unwilling to spend anything. We hired a construction contractor in August, punched several holes in the dam, drained it and pushed the muck out of it. While doing this, we made the pond deeper and used the spoils to shrink the size of the pond. Now the minimum depth is closer to 7 feet, and the maximum depth is 13 feet. The pond is a little smaller at about 2.3 acres versus 2.5 acres originally. We also had the contractor remove a fair number of willows so we have better access to the pond; before there was only about 30% of the pond we could get to easily. We still have lots of renovation to do around the pond, but after some big Thanksgiving rains, the pond is only a few feet shy of full. We couldn't be happier. The dirt work ran over 3 weeks, and we feel fortunate the total price tag came in right around $30,000. Now to plan some aeration, habitat, and start stocking next spring. Let me know if you have any questions.