Good questions. First, both ponds are pleasant to look at. The larger pond's perimeter is lined with a variety of trees including palms and has a partial island that is a nice place to sit. The smaller pond is more landscaped and only about 20' from the house, so we see it more often. I would say there are similar but slightly different purposes for each of the ponds.

A primary reason for keeping the ponds full is to provide water in the event of a fire. So long as there is a need to do that, we would like to keep them beautiful and provide some fishing while we are at it. We need to control the mosquitos in both of them.

In the larger pond we hope to create a natural balance and use it for fishing, floating around in a small boat and enjoying the scenic views.

In the small pond, the view, some occasional fishing for visiting nephews and watching the LMB/BG school at the top is also relaxing.

My son and I like catching bass/catfish and suppose we would eat some of them if it were a part of the balancing process, but that is not a primary objective. Good size fish (2-5 lbs., is that realistic?) seems fine but growing record size fish is not a priority.

Thanks for the reply and follow up questions.