I own a 2.5 acre pond in Georgia. The pond is extremely overcrowded on the bass side. I have not caught a bass over 3 lbs in its 24 year existence. I wanted to drain the pond and start fresh, however am not able to do so for other reasons. The bream fishing is outstanding, with most being hand sized and big enough to fillet. However I want trophy bass. I would rather have 3- 10 lb bass in here than a million bream or small bass.

The pond is very clear, as it is fed by a great spring. Heavy rain will not muddy the pond. You always have at least 3' of visibility, leading to tons of moss and algae growth. We have tried to fertilize and lime, however too much water moves through the pond daily to be effective. The pond has never been even an inch low. The drainpipe has a constant flow out of the back.

This year I plan to remove 50 or so bass. All of the bass I caught last year were between 1/2 and 3/4 pounds. Almost all of them were identical in size. You can catch one on at least every other cast.

Since fertilizing and liming to get the pond darker to kill some moss growth off as been proven ineffective, I am getting 15 triploid grass carp this month.

I am also considering adding crawfish, more small bluegill and shellcracker, and fathead minnows.

Am I on the right track?
What would you guys recommend doing first?

Welcome to the forum, sounds like you have a common problem of too many LMB, which in turn produces some nice size BG. You need to remove LMB, I am not an expert but if you are catching them on every other catch you should remove more than 50 if your pond is 2.5 acres. Also might be a good idea to introduce some new LMB genetics if the pond is 24 years old and has been stunted for awhile.

Do you pellet feed?

Until you do some heavy removing of LMB I don't think adding more forage is going to help much or be cost efficient.

Not sure of your situation but your pond sounds like it could be a good fit to grow some large HSB given you can pellet feed. They fight harder than LMB and could be a nice bonus fish while you wait for the LMB to grow...

Read through the archives as well, this is common topic of conversation and discussion.

We do not feed, but could probably spend a little money on it.
How many bass should I remove this year?
Should I keep some of the big bluegill and shellcracker that are too big to eat to make room for the smaller ones?

Welcome to PB posting. To improve the size and condition of your LMB remove 25 -30 lbs of LMB per acre from the size that is to numerous. For you that means 65 to 70 lbs of 10 - 12 inch LMB removed this year. It would be better to remove them as early as possible. In conjunction with that you could consider adding advanced size (5> inch)BG. You could add up to 1000 of the BG.

How about inviting a local scout troop or church youth group out for a Saturday of fishing and keep a record of every fish caught. Clean every bass and end the day with a fish fry. You could become very popular.