Thanks again to you guys for your help. I will do that muck check thing and see what I get. Funny I had called a guy who actually pumps out pond muck he works in the area of my pond and has a web site the name of which escapes me but is easy to find with a search. In any event I finally got thru to him about a couple of months ago and he shot me a quote of $7,000 (2 days work )to get the muck out of the pond. He did that by asking 2 questions...how old is the pond and how big and deep is it? In fairness I had asked for a rough estimate so I got what I asked for. After getting that rough estimate I started looking into aeration. Incidently business for that guy is so good he wouldnt be able to see me until next July and it was this July when I was talking to him...he is running 2 shifts... makes you wonder.
Another funny thing is while poking around yesterday I called an excavator out of the yellow pages and it turns out it is the same guy that dug the pond some 20 years ago ! He sounds like a real good guy and I am meeting him this weekend. So I will listen to what he says. he already explained that the prior owner just wanted a bird pond as he was an avid duck hunter. He said to me while talking OK we'll putta hole in thar for ya. he said it in a matter of fact way that gave me a good feeling. Maybe I can aerate and deepen.