Just a quick observation.
Ice thickness 5", a local BOW that is larger has 8" of ice.

This is a groundwater pond. Temps were taken at the deepest part of the pond, which is currently at 15', at noon today.

1' depth - 35.8*
5' depth - 41.0*
10' depth - 46.0*

I used an indoor/outdoor thermometer that has a 11' lead. I checked the temp on the outdoor portion against my wireless outdoor thermometer, and they read the same. Pond is currently 4' below full pool. There is an aerator set at 5' below water surface, approx. 60-70 Yds away

Could the higher temps (as compared to Dwight's readings) be caused by the groundwater movement into the pond?

GW usually stays at a constant temp. throughout the year, and has a constant movement. So I would say Yes to the higher temp's., as compared to a lined runoff pond.

Almost every pond around here is a GW pond.

There is a shallow clay lined pond out back that a guy put in for watering deer next to his food plot. Totally Dry! so the deer come up to a GW watering hole my BIL put in. They can also go from this spot, maybe a half mile and get water.

Wow Scot that's pretty warm for winter! Has to be ground water!

I think that's the reason why I don't get much ice build-up during the winter.

Hopefully it will act just the opposite during the summer and I can over-summer some trout with aeration.

It'll be interesting to find out...

That bottom temp sounds about right for groundwater in your area. I agree that those relatively warm temperatures put up a big fight against the ice building.

Yes it may well be groundwater. Also it may make summer trout a possibility if you can keep the DO's up without warming the water to much.

Tricky. Mixing it would defeat the purpose. Hypolimnetic aeration could be an option. AES claims to be experts on that.

I was hoping that if I aerated in the deepest part, only at night, that it would work. If not, they'd be goners anyway. I'll try and leave 10 goldens in there (easier to spot) and what else I can't catch out by the time the water turns 70*.

Ice fishing for a bit yesterday yielded no BG, just trout. I caught 2 RBT, then 3 Goldens (which were released). No bites for an hour, so I hoofed it over to the neighbor's pond that he said I could use as a forage pond. 3" of ice roughly 10' from shore. I tried walking out further, but retreated quickly when the ice cracked underfoot. 10' from shore, the water depth was 18".

When I got back to my pond, I drilled a few more holes and bunced around between them. I caught 3 more RBT and 2 more Goldens (released). The only way that I could get them interested was to bounce the jig off of the bottom, then lift it up 6" or less. They took it as it was paused at the top of the lift. Just jiggling it 6" off of the bottom resulted in no takers, they wanted it bounced on the bottom first.