Our last good rain was early August. I got the pond up to a little over a foot below full pool. (From 4' below full). No real rain since then, I'm back to 24" below full now. However, I did catch four of these guys last weekend!
9 yr old pond, 1 ac, 15' deep. RES, YP, GS, FHM (no longer), HBG (going away), SMB, and HSB (only one seen in 5 yrs) Restocked HSB (2020) Have seen one of these. I think that's about all I should put in my little pond. Otter attack in 2023