Advice please.....

I believe I have a pond that is ready for draining and a re-do but wanted to get some ideas and insight before I decide. My pond is right about 2 acres and ranges from 1-7’ deep. It is more than 50 years old and is surrounded on three sides by trees almost to the water’s edge. I fight weeds all spring/summer with mainly coontail or a similar submerged plant and then algae/moss on the surface. I have used hydrothol for the submerged and copper sulfate for the algae/moss with limited positive results. I also use dye packs to cut down on the amount of light getting to the bottom. I have succumbed to a rake and rope to manually pull the weeds as chemicals do not seem to work (the ones I have used anyways) and as I’m sure you know they are expensive. I would like to drain the pond, clean all the muck out as well as deepen, especially closer to the banks where the water is but a foot deep. I installed two aerators this year but they dont seem to have helped much.

I have a 20’ drop off the back of the dam and was considering a 4” siphon set-up to drain….thoughts?

I also thought about removing about a 10-12’ area around the pond edge of trees to cut down on leaf buildup in the future...thoughts?

Here are a few questions:

1. Does my description sound like the pond is at the drain/re-do stage?
2. Is there a best time of year to drain the pond?
3. How long must it dry/set before I can have it re-worked (I am in southern Illinois...good clay).
4. Should I keep a place or two gently sloping to a low water level for fish to spawn?

Any advice/experiencces would be greatly appreciated.