I wasn't aware of the fish kill. So this happened in Fall during the turnover?
If so, this tells me that your pond has good native fertility and maintains a good weight of fish. I had already noted the shallow average and maximum depths. So was this a case where turnover put a lot of un-decayed organics into the water column?
If so, aeration is making a difference there and one of the benefits is the recycling of nutrients which were previously bound in anoxic sediment. Productivity of pond will increase due to this increased activity on the bottom. IOWs it increases the natural carrying capacity. Your pond may be more susceptible to fish kill due to high productivity and modest water volume (for its surface area). Give some level of thought as to whether you want to add nutrients to it. Also give some thought to how you might reduce nutrient loading. Something that might help would be to clear some trees near the water to reduce leaf loading. You may get unwanted pulses of nutrients from neighboring fields under cultivation. Those you cannot control. With a lot water and apparently mostly you doing the fishing, give some thought to this. The pond in its natural state may provide all the fish you care to eat and may be easier to manage population wise.
You have a plan for mortality ... but you have no plan for recruitment. It takes both to have a population plan. In other words, you need something other than the current plan to be sure you have a enough trophy path LMB but not too many. Both aspects affecting population must be accounted for to fully achieve goals. With regard to recruitment, only a selection program involving marking can succeed in being sure you have enough recruits. With regard to mortality, only a culling program that removes unmarked fish can succeed in limiting the population to the selection.
Can you tell us more about your current LMB population? I assume catch rates are down and this is what you mean by the numbers are very low. Please expand on info regarding the LMB population and also can you tell us whether there has been success of recruitment of LMB to the 8" class since the fish kill 4 years ago?
