Thank you all for the responses! So I will definitely keep pulling fish out, and not worry as much about the gills right now. As for the vegetation, I don't want to kill it all but definitely want a little less of it. I feel like chemicals would wipe it out, as well as be more of a temporary fix, so would you guys recommend grass carp for this purpose or would they wipe it all out too? They want to leave the pond as natural looking as possible so don't want to use dye, but they said they will if that's what is needed.
