N&K Since you are planning to significantly reduce your weed habitat, I would be removing as suggested every crappie you catch and at least 20 spotted bass per acre. This will allow more BG to survive to sizes to adequately feed the remaining bass to keep them growing.
"A fish will grow as long as it lives if it has proper sizes of food to excess". Reduce the needed food and growth slows or stops. If you are serious about growing bigger bass you should be weighing and measuring the C&R bass to determine their body condition also known as relative weight RW. Values higher than 85% and better of 90% indicate they are still growing rather than not getting enough food for their proper growth. This info is also discussed in detail in the link below. Do some reading about growing bigger bass from the growing bass topic in our archive section - Bass Management.
It appears that you have too many predators eating the 1"-3" BG and not allowing lots of BG to grow into the 3.5"-6" size to feed 4lb-5lb+ bass. IMO get rid of more crappie and 1-1.5 lb bass. Those fish are eating too much of the small food and not allowing enough small food to grow larger to feed more larger fish.
Common Pond Q&A Archive Section
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=postlist&Board=22&page=1Bass Management
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=255372#Post255372Also Bob Lusk wrote an article in PBoss magazine in 2018 about the best philosophy or method to remove bass from an overcrowded bass pond. I will look for the article. You should be subscribing to Pond Boss magazine if you or anyone is serious about growing quality sportfish. Another excellent article by Dr.Neal and B.Haley that explains how to tell if your fish are getting enough to eat and are plump enough to be growing properly is in Jan-Feb 2018 PB mag
Jan –Feb 2018 . USING ANGLING DATA Part 2. CONDITION. Dr. Neal & Bryant Haley do an excellent job of explaining how to monitor the plumpness factors of your fish using length – weight data. What the condition factors mean for your management.
Sept –Oct 2018 CULLING TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP. Picking Your Horses to Win. Lusk explains how you know when your fish are ripe for harvest. Gives better set of harvest rules for growing larger fish.
Magazine back issues
https://www.pondboss.com/store?c=9
