This will be my last question for a little bit, I'm new to the forum and have already asked a ton of questions I had built up in my head before finding the forum.

Anyway, being a trout fisherman I know how important insects are to trout. My question isn't exactly like my title says about creating habitat above water, but sort of...I'm wondering if mowing down and keeping a perfectly mowed fescue lawn right up to the pond edge is a bad thing or does it matter? Every time I go down to the pond there are so many insects in what I have now which is a 4 foot buffer of 4-5 foot brushy growth and weeds; and it's inevitable that insects get fall into the pond. I'm wondering how many baitfish feed off these insects and will I negatively impact the size of the fish in my pond by keeping a well groomed and manicured area around the pond?

I can't answer that question, but for sure it will make your pond more attractive to geese.........

geese do not like high grass. A coyote uses my high grass to hunt. Last year he got a goose and a muskrat from my shore.

Yeah, I have a two geese on pond now, one male and one female. The only good thing about them is that they won't let any other geese land on the pond. Is that a plus?;)

Wait 'till the goslings hatch and they invite the extended family for a visit.............

As Scott said, it's a good thing for now only because they are keeping others away and that's the ONLY good thing - but I'll add that two is two too many! They crap enough for a lifetime and when the little ones join them, it's only going to get waaaaaay worse. Take my advice on this - run them off now. Regular shotgun blasts into the air or water around them (if you don't want to just kill them outright) will eventually deter them from hanging around. The two that have tried to take up residence on my 1/2 acre pond are finally to the point now that as soon as they see my truck pulling in, they take off. The no longer have the carefree attitude that they possessed a few months ago. I absolutely refuse to let them start a nest and, if they do, I will likely go after the nest and force them to leave. There is nothing good about them. They were cute the first year and the whole nature-doing-its-thing-cycle-of-life was cool to watch once. The aftermath was miserable. Get rid of them now and it won't be a minute too soon.

I will echo the others and encourage you to run them off. My neighbor has several and they wander to my pond and poop everywhere. I chase them off with a pellet gun. Now they take off whenever I show up. I cannot wait to live there so I can chase them with the dogs full time. When I first got the pond, the were there a lot and it was a mess.

Somehow this thread mutated from insects to geese.
In answer to your original question, any riparian growth can be beneficial in providing diversity to the pond's food chain/web. How much it contributes will depend the total area in relation to pond size. Riparian growth provides habitat for insects, amphibians, reptiles, and, of course, water fowl. It is really a matter of personal choice.

So tell us just exactly how you do feel about geese around your pond.

Spatterdock plants will attract bugs for minnows but they can spread over time and would have to be regulated. Last year while I walked my pond in chest waders the minnows were eating the white hoppers jumping into the water. There were thousands of these bugs. Free food. I also see birds going leaf to leaf eating something.