Yes, once we get into the dog days I'll cease any chemical treatments due to DO drops but continue bacteria treatments I'm trying. They (or the aeration) have helped with clearing multiple patches where I've never seen the pond bottom before due to algae. Uncovering a lot more gravel than I thought we had and seems to be making the bedding bass happy.

Biggest bass has been 17" and the biggest BG has been 9.5" but lots of 8". I did the survey with a bump board along with input from state Game and Parks fisheries bilogist to determine the possible need for a cull. The majority of this pond is shallower than 4' with (3-4) 7' areas dug by a excavator 10 years ago. I measured with a Deeper Sonar last year and made a complete map. I don't think we can get our bass much above that mark but the potential for 10" BG (a master angler award size) is very much within reach.

I also think the reason for the bulk of the LMB being the same size is due to a fish kill we had before I moved here. There was thick ice and snow cover for a long time. The first year I was here there was only 9" bass and that was 2 years after that fishkill. Now that I'm here I remove snow from 1/3 or more when it gets above 6" as long as there is safe ice. I also ice fish it and I think it may help vent some gasses. I drill quite a few holes spread across the pond for this purpose.

We do not connect to any upstream waterways (down is our overflow spillway) and don't have crayfish. I had actually thought of introducing them but don't want too much tunneling. Young of the year BG and LMB along with frogs/tadpoles are the main forage. I'd love to see our water quality sustain multiple BG spawns per season to fatten our fish.