No stupid questions if one does not know the answers. It is a learning curve and we are here to help pond owners with that curve.
Here is my 'take' on your questions. Others may have good opinions to consider. Firstly, historically 18" of clarity due to a bloom and the resulting pond or ecosystem productivity is based on BG-LMB, minnow-shiner production pond type systems. This amount of visibility is also condusive to minimizing submerged weed and FA growths. IMO these higher productivities are too productive and too "risky" to produce and maintain for a truly quality SMB fishery. These higher productivities at the 18" level are much more likely to have periodic DO crashes within the life span of your typical SMB compared to ecosystems with 3ft to 5 ft+ visibilities. These clearer water systems are typcially where SMB are most common and naturally thrive. Thus this is my rationale for clearer water and higher annual DO concentrations that are more condusive to consistantly growing great smallies. Consistant and long term being important items here.
I not saying that one cannot grow smallies in waters with 18"-2ft visibilities, but what I am saying is more problems will occur and long term chances of succeeding will be fewer, IF the water has higher phytoplankton densities due to higher fertilities. This applies especially to more southern waters where higher annual water temperatures prevail. see next.
Secondly - Remember as water increases in temperature, its ability to hold DO DECREASES and decreases fairly rapidly as temperature increases above 75F and 80F. There is probably a graph for this phenomenon.
Thirdly - I suspect that adult SMB have a lower DO threshold compared to adult LMB. Another factor to consider in this big 'picture'. I suspect that SMB evolved in higher oxygenated clearer water environments compared to LMB.
Forthly - Foggy asks: "Will my forage food be able to survive with water clarity that deep (3-4ft)?"
Your your forage will most certainly survive in water visibilites of 3'-4'. It just won't have as many foragers, i.e. less productivity equals fewer naturally produced individuals including fishes. Phytoplankton and zooplankton thrive quite well in very clear water (10-30+ft visibility). Waters with this clear of water almost never have summer fish kills due to very low BOD - Biochemical Oxygen Demand. Not as true in ice covered waters. Plankton and forage including fishes in clearer waters are fewer in number and biomass, but they are thriving and thriving quite well. Sometimes the community composition is even different in clearer lower nutrient waters. This all basically means you raise fewer pounds of smallies per acre in the lower productivity waters. Productivity and the resulting food chain or web is on a continuium from low to high or high to low. Nature's tradeoffs.
Fifty - There is no real formula as I know it, for producing water visibilities of 3-4ft. Visibilites at least those due to phytoplankton are due to the amount of nutrients available for the phytoplankton growth. More nutrients equalling more growth and phytoplankton as being the base of the food chain. Actually it nutrients and bacteria form that base of the food chain, but here we will use phytoplankton-plants as the base. More fertilization = more phytoplankton = in the end, more fish.
One place to start is if your water is clear, add fertilizer gradually until the transparency gets to where you want it. This assumes the alkalinity is adequate. Then try to maintain that visibility by thereafter regularly adding fertilizer in lesser amounts compared to the 18" visibilities recommendations. IMO is could be a very 'slippery' slope if a 'clear water' type fish is the goal.
If I was doing it, and for IMO simplicity, I would want as clear as water as possible and then just feed the smallies and the forage fish to keep higher numbers reasonable in the clear water. Or just be satisified with fewer predators (smallie pounds) per acre - the easiest plan-path. Big smallies can be raised well in very clear water. You may just have one 5 pounder per 1-2 acres. It would be very interesting to hear the clarity of the water where Ozarkstriperscom and Bobby Rice who recently caught large smallies in Wisconsin and where ever Ozark got his dandy SMB. There could also be data available of the poundage of smallies per acre of these water bodies which would help us better understand the standing stock of SMB in water with higher transpariencies.
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Main=24047&Number=302320#Post302320http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showgallery&Number=301763 FYI - here is info from Dale Hollow Reservoir where one of the record smallies was produced. "Summer secchi disc readings average between 18 and 20 feet. Dale Hollow is fairly infertile, and there is adequate dissolved oxygen throughout the water column. The remote location and lack of development keeps the water quality quite high." Note the last sentence suggesting low nutrients & low productivity.
Sixtly - Now keep in mind that the clearer water will naturally result in the pond growing more submerged plant growth due to clear water. Plan on that happening (problem). My plan would to have on the average deeper water for increased carity. There are some ways of dealing with weeds in clear water. Thus this puts us back to the beginning,,, mainly in the design of the pond - preplanning to minimize weed growth in clear water. Something that is not considered by most people wanting to raise SMB. IMO raising smallies requires a different philosophy and from the beginning, the pond should be designed for smallies or other more clear water thriving fish species. Rather than have a pond and just put smallies in it. That too can be done, and often done well, if ones uses proper management and with some 'luck'. This becomes more true esp in more southern waters where annual DO budgets become a larger "player".
Maintaining a population of smallies on feed is a big challenge and one that is not for most managers especially if the pond is large. I have found that the SMB that I have worked with are easier to feed train compared to LMB of the same size and age.
