First of all, hello everyone. I have been reading this board for a long time, and finally registered. I have a 1 acre pond in south-central NC that I estimate to be at least 30 years old. Average depth around 10'. We bought the property two years ago and started clearing the overgrowth and brush from the dam and banks. There were trees / saplings growing up to the water's edge. Last spring I decided to drawdown about 4' so I could renovate the sides; unfortunately the draw went faster than planned, and I lost about 7' of water. The banks are now clear of brush to about 50' from the pond, and I have started removing smaller trees from the dam. The loader operator removed as much mud from the pond bottom as possible, but there is still about 2' of grey stinking mud on the bottom. I have two questions: is this soft mud going to hurt when I try to establish cover, and if so, how can I remove it short of a complete drawdown and drying?