Thanks a bunch. I'm a bit intimidated by the prospect of getting an excavator for the shallow end (I'm a life-long suburbanite, new to rural living in general) but I'm getting the feeling that I will have to do that. I'm skimming the leaves from the pond and shoveling muck by hand for now, and it's having approximately 0 effect. Any idea what that should cost, assuming it's practical? (I think a piece of heavy machinery could get down to the pond OK).
The carp are common carp.
I'm warming up to the idea of feeding the bluegill, so thanks for the advice on feed. Are there existing threads I should read about how much/often to feed?
My priority is having fun catching fish; don't care about size. If anyone has advice about keeping up the maximum # of bass and bluegill, as opposed to size, I'd be interested in hearing more. Or if that's not a practical goal, I'd welcome hearing that as well.
Also, I figure it's worth asking: what is the consensus on "helpful bacteria" muck tablets (muck-away, etc)? I'm guessing those are a rip-off; I haven't seen a presentation or literature from a university extension that recommends them, while every other intervention like aeration, herbicides, habitat, etc seems to get mentioned.
I'm still working on getting photos into my posts, but in the meantime I remembered that the realtor made a video of the property and it's still up on youtube. This gives you a good idea of the size and shape of the pond.
Pond video
