I only mention the water level because it was an eye-opener for us. We did something similar in one area of our pondsite when it was created, albeit considerably simpler in scope. We left about 1/4 acre of wooded timber untouched where the slope of the land was minimal and would put the area under no more than 12 - 15" of water at normal pool. It works and looks great at spring, after the winter brings it up to full pool. By July, it's largely dry land. This is no biggie for our project, particularly since we took no significant steps to enhance the area with any vegetation or the like. It just points out something (else) that I didn't anticipate for this area when we constructed our pond.
Did I ever tell ya about the first time I cleaned out the wood duck boxes from the frozen water surface...