Update:
Ok, I am off work for the summer (teacher) and ready to start putting this stuff together.
Any further recommendations on where to place stuff would be greatly appreciated. I still feel like I am completely guessing on locations & amount of structure. I think I am pretty good on what kinds to make.
I'm waiting on a second estimate for well-drilling, so hopefully I can get that done soon if I can afford it (my house well is 300ft deep).
I've been wondering how my fish were doing since I rarely see any. I made the mistake of tossing in a gallon of aquashade early in the spring, and now I still can't see more than a foot or two into the water as a result, though it's starting to fade a little. I placed 100 4-5" perch, and the only one I've seen is the dead one I skimmed out the first week. Presumably, they are hanging out at the bottom since the water still isn't all that deep yet. I also put in about 40+ pounds of fatheads, and I rarely see them either, but I got good news last night. I was out swimming around and ran into a school of (presumably) fathead fry...they look to be about a week old. Once I knew to look for them, I found a couple big areas where they were congregating. With nothing to eat them, I guess they are doing fine despite no cover or spawning structure in place yet.
I have a small order (90) of RES arriving next monday, along with some bullfrog tadpoles. My native tadpoles (had 1000's of them for a while) seem to have mostly grown up and hopped off. There are lots of tiny 1/2" frogs jumping around the tall grass nearby.
