Listen to Bill Cody. He knows his stuff. Aarom M. has raised some VERY large SMB in his backyard pond in Phoenix, Az. Many pond owners in Texas have HSB in their ponds. Cecil has grown 16" YP in his pond with hardly any weeds.

A managed pond is completely different than any lake, and some amazing things can be done with them.

I would consider digging the ponds deeper. Deeper ponds for the same surface area contain more water, and if they have a bottom aeration system in place, the more water volume holds more O2 reserves for periods of time when you have to dip into the "savings account". Plus, if the drought continues, more water is better. My pond was dug down to 22' deep. Right after it was completed and the equipment left, Hurricane Ike rolled thru and washed in a couple feet of sediment. I can live with 19' depth, but if it was only 10' deep, I would have to called back the equipment to dig it out again.

A client has 4 ponds that were dug 12' deep. With the drought, there is between 4' and 5' of water in them now. Even with an aeration system in each one, the possibility is there for the majority of fish to die during a winterkill this year. That will mean turning the clock back 3-4 years because it would be too cost prohibitive to stock the ponds with adult fish.

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3/4 to 1 1/4 ac pond LMB, SMB, PS, BG, RES, CC, YP, Bardello BG, (RBT & Blue Tilapia - seasonal).