Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Creating habitat Is a Swimming pond compatible with a fishing pond?

Hello All,
I have a 4 acre levy held pond in the back yard that has very little cover. It has a few cattails in one corner, some hydrilla (I think) an another corner, I dropped 6 Christmas Trees in it a few months ago and other than that is pretty barren. The bottom is thick sticky clay and it does not have much muck on the bottom (which I hear is a good thing). Depths range down to 15' at the deep end. It has some fish! Which is promising (Some Big Perch, Some Big Blue Gill, a couple of bass around 3 pounds and a bunch of small bass 10-15").
Now for the questions...
1. Would it be compatable to make a Beach/Swimming area and still have good bass fishing?
2. I want to make several fishing areas with cover in addition to what I have...should I throw in some lily pads?
3. How do I figure out the composition of my fish population so I can make improvements?
Thank you,
Mickey