The whole thing sounds like a great project and well worth it. I love the idea of smallies, and I wonder if you potentially did some pellet feed in certain areas of the oxbow, if you could get some vigor added to the SMB to perhaps make stronger spawn thus prolonging their existence.

I've heard in general that a fish that has lived in running water won't do so well if relocated to a pond environment, and maybe vice versa. so a KS source for smallies, may be all pond raised. That may be no issue, but I only mention it if you're going to have some kind of real flow, creek like, going through.

Excerpt from Robert Crais' "The Monkey's Raincoat:"
"She took another microscopic bite of her sandwich, then pushed it away. Maybe she absorbed nutrients from her surroundings."