Went for a swim in my RES/SMB pond. Was hot and dusty mowing around the ponds with my little tractor and bush hog type mower so I just stopped and jumped in.

What I found interesting was the shallow thermocline. The top two feet was very warm water then very nice cool water below. That there was a thermocline was no surprise but I was surprised at how shallow it was.

I did not go out to deeper water to determine if there was a second thermocline but I suspect there was. I'm guessing the top two feet was warmed up by the sunny hot day. A few weeks back my grandson and I did a scuba dive in this pond to brush up his skills before going on a week long diving vacation. At the bottom of the pond it was pitch black and cold. I suspect that anoxic water is still down there but I did not check it out.

It is so interesting having three ponds within close proximity of each other. This RES/SMB pond had a really good algae bloom with about 2' visibility. Can't see a fish at all unless they come to the surface to hit a pellet. A hundred feet away is my old refurbished pond and it is clear enough I can see fish lining up at the bank waiting for me to throw them feed. Maybe 3' visibility with a rather poor algae bloom.

Another difference in the ponds are the aggressiveness of the SMB. In the RES/SMB pond the SMB only have themselves to compete with. Pellet feeding can be pretty aggressive or lackadaisical, depending on the day. But in the other two ponds the SMB are in there dukeing it out with the BG, HBG and CC. Very aggressive feeding. I can catch SMB in the two ponds where their population is fairly small in the scheme of things as easy or easier than I can where there are only SMB in the pond to bite the hook.

Just some anecdotal observations.