So I recently purchased a home with a 1.25 surface acre pond - average about 8 feet deep a few sections goto 30 feet. Neighbor tells me there are some big LMB, seen large 3 foot long Catfish as well.

Also seen a Heron stop by for a snack from time to time not sure if that means lots of fish or the Heron has picked it over. Friendly neighbor tells me he throws Fire Crackers at Heron & Geese to scare them off. I think he also throws some lead but won't admit it just yet.

Found a Craigslist post for "10 Free 10-12 inch Black Koi" where the homeowner bought a house with an overwhelmed backyard Koi puddle i.e. about 3 feet x 5 feet. So I dropped those in the pond a few weeks ago but haven't seen them since. They could be down in the weeds (Hydrilla & WaterShield) having a feast or become a feast for something else.

Here is the question
Not sure how far I want to dive into this potentially all consuming hobby. There is a good chance in about 3 years I will be moved into a job that requires frequent out of state travel so I will have to put the pond on auto-pilot. Is that just setting myself up for lots of work to be redone in the future? Or is an auto-pilot possible?

I do some traveling for work. Rarely more than a couple weeks straight and not much more than a couple months worth at a time. I hate to be away from the pond (and home, of course), but a timer on the aeration pump and an automatic fish feeder holds down the fort while I'm gone. It's good to have a neighbor and/or spouse that can reset the timer if the power should go out for any length of time and stop by once in a while to make sure feed is coming out of the feeder, but not a loosing situation if let go a few days either.

I did miss out last summer on fishing the pond for sampling the populations, but the pond did not collapse into the abyss.

That's my auto-pilot when needed for the pond season. Wintertime does not have the need as I don't worry too much about keeping the Central Missouri ice open.

First off, I'm liking the way your neighbor thinks...
I think your goals for the pond will dictate how much input is needed. sometimes during the season it's harder than others but again, it's dependent on what you expect from the fishery.

Apologies for late follow-up & greatly appreciate the replies.

A pond seems to offer both a lot of work and a lot of peaceful reflection. I'm looking for more of the last one but know nothing worthwhile is easy.