TJ, I will likely have some of the same issues with silting as my pond is clay also. I'm hoping that all the large rock I have under some the SMB beds will filter the silt through similar to your setup. My beds are elevated 6"-18" above the clay in most instances. I've read in an article by Bill Cody that the male SMB can remove silt from rocks to reshape his bed from the previous year. So Im hoping to at least limit the amount of silt by surrounding the beds with rock to avoid silt from sliding in from the banks above.

Here's some more examples of what I'm creating.

http://i1065.photobucket.com/albums/u392/JamieE38/image-5.jpg
http://i1065.photobucket.com/albums/u392/JamieE38/image-8.jpg
http://i1065.photobucket.com/albums/u392/JamieE38/image-10.jpg

I've added a total of 15 of the long rock piles that are 18"-3' tall and 20' wide. They extend out into deep water (6-12')and are 50'-75' long. The piles are a minimum of 12 tons and 4 of them are 25+ tons each. Looks like that may be it for rock hauling, as the surrounding ground is saturated with water and by the time it dries out again the pond will be full. I feel pretty good about the amount of rock in the pond. My goal was to get SMB structure, spawning beds and crayfish habitat out of the rocks I put in the pond. I spaced them approximately 40-100' apart. Standing on the bank it looks like a pretty significant amount.

http://i1065.photobucket.com/albums/u392/JamieE38/e25fc947c57adaff7532412a6182e682.jpg
http://i1065.photobucket.com/albums/u392/JamieE38/2384be37a8c8640647615894a98e73f0.jpg