aetain, sometimes the advice given is given because of a lot of knowledge in an area. When people are being friendly and give advice, particularly someone with the knowledge and experience of Bill Cody, saying:
I know what to do. I want them to breed. Im not going out every few years to catch some
It sorta comes off a bit rude, at least it did to me... The pond you are working with is very small. Reproducing predators in a pond that small can be very hard to manage. You will spend more time removing tiny CP out of your pond than you ever would collecting them from the wild every couple years. If CP reproduce in your pond, they offspring will never get big enough to eat as they will stunt to a size far smaller than would be worth eating.
4" GSH, 1" FHM and 4" CP should be fine.
CP are very tolerant of low DO, however at 7' deep your pond may have issues with winter kill if you have extended periods of ice over. I always recommend aeration, it is a cheap insurance policy to losing fish and has many other benefits. If you can get electricity to your pond, I would install an aeration system. In a pond as small as yours, it shouldn't be overly expensive.
