Tell me if I have this right. We fertilize in order to establish a bloom. We aerate to add O2 to the water and control the bloom. Then we fertilize again to keep the bloom going. I understand (from reading here) that the jury is still out as to whether aerating will reduce the amount of sludge in my pond. Some say yes, others are undecided. My .72 acre pond is 30 plus years old, 10' at the deepest and 3-5' almost everywhere else and shaped like a triangle, 250' across the dam and 280' along the other 2 sides. I get runoff from around 10 acres. To my knowledge it has never been aerated other than what Mother Nature gives it. The bass that I have caught to date are all 16 inches or less, with many in the 10" range. They don't seem overly thin but I haven't weighed any of them. I also have white crappie but they only get caught once. I have caught crappie from 4 to 10 inches long. Either me or my dog eat them, depending on their size. My dog eats every fish I toss her from nose to tail, scales, guts head and all and it hasn't killed her yet.
I don't feed the bluegill but there seems to be a lot of small ones. I don't believe the previous owner had much interest in fishing. She was a fan of dying the water to kill the weeds. How can I tell if I have too many of one kind of fish. I suspect too many predators, but how can I be sure.

PETA, People Eating Tasty Animals