Scott,
Also, this pond was neglected for many years and I have a thick layer of mulm along with the silt. It is surrounded by Cedars, Maples and Alders so I get lots of branches, leaves, etc. dropping in. I have been netting the new stuff that falls but there is years worth of DOC's in there. That is why I was thinking that aerating would be good for it.
Dudley,
If a silt trap is what I have, I call it a settling chamber. Pretty much it is a deep area dug into the stream where heavy stuff settles before it gets to the pond. I use a shop vac to clean mine out every now and then. If your run off is coming in from the perimeter of the pond, you can build a berm around it.
