David, I'll leave the technical discussion for the experts, but when reading Pond Boss posts you have to keep in mind that many pond meisters here are striving for an optimal (or even above optimal) condition in their pond. Whether it be very high density numbers, or very large BG or large bass. For lack of a better phrase, they are pushing the boundary of their pond beyond what would probably occur in nature. That is very possible and a very healthy pond can be achieved but it will require a significant amount of management intervention including feeding, possibly aeration, definitely selective culling, etc, etc.
You can achieve your goal of being able to catch 3-5 pound bass and some bream without feeding and probably without any aeration. Many here have done that. Managing your fish population through tracking relative weight and fish population counts (using just fishing pole sampling) can work. At the conference this year Bob Lusk told me that probably the best management tool is to keep records of what you catch (relative weights and numbers of fish) and then adjust your culling strategy accordingly.
Many of us here don't feed (other than introducing some forage base) and don't aerate and have ponds that are very fun to fish. It may take longer to get larger bass and your pond may not have as high as a carrying capacity as one that receives active management but that does not mean that you cannot have a great pond without feeding. Please note that I am not in any way criticizing anyone that uses feeding or aeration or highly active pond management.
When reading this site you have to keep in mind that ultimately you need to use a pond management strategy that fits your budget and your time availability. Does that make any sense?
