Tracy,
That's sure a shame about the vegetation. That's an area you might want to explore more with the forum. There are many possibilities with pond plants – seemingly endless variables.
You might raise crustaceans, e.g., shrimp, scud, or daphnia, in a tank in your garage, basement, or barn this winter to transplant to your pond in the spring. I'm just learning about these critters, but in general they appear easy to raise and you could keep adding them to your pond throughout the year. Some people have said they've had good luck with some of these without vegetation in their pond. I plan to experiment with my pond. It has essentially no vegetation and very few small forage fish. There is no cover for them. I planted a few eel grass plants in late fall and have seed of a couple other species ordered, but they have to be kept damp, and the supplier is afraid they will freeze, so no seeds for a while. I also have scud ordered, and they may arrive soon.
You have a lot to think through with your project - the “work” that was previously mentioned. I'm wondering about the wisdom of using crappie. It seems there are many other species that would be easier for you and for the bass to handle.
