Gentlemen,
Thank you very much for adding the pics of the rope used for watermeal removal. I used it this weekend and was able to get the majority of watermeal out and into the compost pile.
However it appears this will be a ongoing battle after checking the pond this morning.

We have a small 80 x 50 x 5 pond behind our house that we dug 4 years ago stocked with 3y/o bluegill, channel cat and a few LMB.

Until the end of last years drought we never had any issues with "pond scum". After removing it earlier this year the scum has overtaken our once beautiful pond and we have been losing six to ten fish a week (mainly cats).
Is this an issue with the watermeal (most was 1" thick caked on the entire surface) or due to not having aeration pumps?
I would appreciate your thoughts,
Scott