One other thing that I was reminded of, if you are adding water from the well to the pond, add it so that it falls through the air before entering the pond water, so as to add some oxygen to it and to your pond.

As far as my choice, I know that bass prefer the more narrow body shape of minnows, shad, etc to the flatter brim, also minnows and shad do not have the spines that hamper bass eating them.

As far as my choice, Good question. The best ponds for large bass (if you want bass) contain more than one type of forage.

Nick Smith