Welcome! My place is 30 miles west on Indy. We have BG, and they bite, but few of our swimmers care. Redear are an alternative with LMB, but you would still need a forage speceies with high reproduction, perhaps FHM + shiners. That is my plan as forage fish for my second pond (built this year), except it will have SMB, not LMB. I will also be adding blunt-nose minnows gathered locally. Our swimming area is a floating dock connected to a fixed dock (on our first pond). It has worked out great and avoids stiring up sediment. It also works great as a boat launch and with a natural-edge pond filled with emergent plants. we plan the same for our new pond.
That sounds like a real nice setup you have there RAH! I can't say that I've ever been bitten by a fish other than nibbles from minnows, but I haven't swam in a lot of ponds either. I can see how the increased concentration and their tendency to be more curious when not fearing lake full of predators could lead them to get a little too "friendly" lol. I'm not that worried about it honestly.
I have been thinking about a very small side pond just for FHM/shiner production. At the least, have some large tanks to keep a constant supply running.
Thanks for the tips!
