Since I don't have flow through in the summer, the food will just add to the nutrients in the pond increasing plant growth and reducing clarity. It may not be evident the first year, but over time I believe it will age the pond faster. Also concerned about microscopic life of the wrong sort promoted by decaying food.
With that said, I may do limited feeding, but waiting for my fish to get larger naturally just to see how they do. All the fish I have caught so far have been healthy without feeding. Not record setters though.
Right now the water is clear, plant life is limited, and the swimming is great. I don't want to break something that is working. Unusually this is not my normal nature. I must be getting old.
Gotcha. I was just curious, as the pond we have our HBG in is also our swimming pond, so I recognize the desire for clean, clear water. During the hotter summer months, we typically have a bloom that reduces clarity to around 24", but normal clarity is twice that, and I stay on top of aquatic vegetation and feed everyday, temps permitting.
My wife has no qualms about swimming in the pond, and I have nieces that bring friends over to swim, so I figure if some 17-19 yr old girls don't mind it, it must be okay. Of course I recognize that it may just be in their nature to treat as normal, what someone else might find unacceptable...these are local (country) girls after all.
Not endorsing one course of action over another, just suggesting that it is possible to have bigger fish in a smaller, swimming pond.