OK Nathan. You know I'm not sure what set up the circumstance that you now enjoy but I will share some thoughts. I think harvesting crappie is going to help your bass ... but I also think it may not be enough to get the results your may be looking for.
There exists a contradiction in that you have some mighty dandy spotties over 7 lbs but little evidence of the size class between 3 and 6 lbs. One way to look at 3 lb fish is that they are trophy recruits. It's obvious that you have to grow 3 pounders to grow 7 lb and greater fish. The absence of the fish in this range tells me that there may have been a limiting event a few years ago. It is this event that gave rise the largest of your spotties. They've had remarkable growth and their offspring is concentrated in fish less than 14". To be sure, the smaller spotties are also producing offspring as well. Are your 7 lb spotties fat? And what other fish may be responsible for feeding them (eg is there a good population of BH).?
My impression is that young bass are stalling at 14" and that the large number of them are helping you grow large BCP. That the Florida LMB you stocked ranged between 1.5 and 5 lbs concerns me a little. This is because this size class is poorly represented and so the forage for this size class may be limited. You definitely need to cull a bunch of the 9" to 14" predators. This will remove competition and allow prey fish to live and grow longer ... which will help grow fish into the under represented weight class. Both crappie and the small spotties qualify as the predators needing culled.
How many? Just a humble opinion ... but I think if you are serious about growing trophies on a consistent and ongoing basis you can't take too many of them. Hopefully you marked the Floridas so you don't accidentally cull any of the smaller ones. Just saying if I wanted trophy bass I would nurture the Florida bass and relentlessly remove their competition.
It's just me ... but I think I would (personal preference) want to ride the wave your on as long as possible. It one of those situations where complaining can sound a bit like bragging
if you know what I mean! A lot of folks have tried have what you've got and have failed.
