I’ve not removed any ribbons over the years. And each year I see fewer and fewer ribbons. I have very few if any weeds or plant growth in the pond. Just some leaves from surrounding trees. I’ve tried many different traps, and used to catch a few YP, now all I catch are HBG fry. I’ve read that possibly my Golden Shiners are cleaning up the YP fry. Not sure, but I do not think I have a over population of YP. Seems like we catch fewer and fewer each year. My SMB must be working them over also. Possibly the young YP are easier for the SMB to catch than the Golden Shiners??

9 yr old pond, 1 ac, 15' deep.
RES, YP, GS, FHM (no longer), HBG (going away), SMB, and HSB (only one seen in 5 yrs) Restocked HSB (2020) Have seen one of these.
I think that's about all I should put in my little pond.
Otter attack in 2023