Pond worry in a drought

[SENKOSAM1]

The pond that was max. at 9' almost, lost 6' due to the severe drought last year. The low level plus other factors such as thick ice contributed to a total fish kill. I saw dead fish suspended in the ice - some bass and panfish - and waited for the thaw and floating fish. I had four grass carp that helped keep the weeds down (pads not affected) that had grown from 12" to 7 lbs. The lack of bottom weeds due to the carp plus too little water, may have contributed to the lethally low oxygen content killing the many fish that had grown and spawned over the years.

Along with many dead fish, the carp floated to the surface. Before I could remove them, one carp body was removed and left on shore 30' from the water's edge. What the?!!!

Partially eaten carp (note coffee cup for idea of size)


 I pulled out the remaining three along with other fish carcasses and left them to dry out before bagging them. The next day 4 large turkey vultures where feeding on one dead carp leaving just large scales and bones. The next day, all the carcasses were gone completely!
Five vultures and other unknown animals got rid of about two dozen or more fish in three days!

Talk about feast or famine!! In April and May we got over 6" of rain; in the last 48 hours - 2". The pond filled fast and is now at max. I've been restocking fish from a few local lakes but haven't decided to restock the grass carp. A fish kill happened some time back but not this bad. Winter aeration is out of the question so this may happen again.

I haven't seen the 8 lb. snapping turtle yet though 3 painted turtles showed up. I figure the snapping turtle feasted on many dead bodies, which they are known to do, so it left fewer fish for me to net and dispose of.
                  Full pond - recent photos                                                pond late summer
   vs  

The pond was down in 2017 and there was a fish kill but not as bad.
Interesting factoid:
When a hawk came down and walked over to the dead carp, five vultures backed off until it left. Amazing that a bird with a fully open wingspan of 4' backs away from a bird with a wingspan of less than 2'. Guess the vultures knew who was boss!
Cool fact about turkey vultures:
1. They can track decaying flesh 8 miles away.
2. Their stomach acid is strong killing any germs. It stinks so bad that if they want to come back to finish eating, they regurgitate on it so no animal will feed on it.