Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Feeding Food for Recreational Feeding

I'm looking for a food that will work for non-feed trained fish for kids, and adults, to toss in for fun. I'm not looking to set up a feeding program because the lake is on vacant property for now.

I bought some Game Fish Food by South Fresh Feeds of Demopolis, AL. The BG won't eat it. Fish after fish will suck in a piece and then immediately spit it back out only to have another one come along and do the same. That happens over and over until the pellet sinks out of sight. The 40 lb bag was $20, so it's not a terrible loss, but it's still a wasted $20. The pellets are all about the same size 1/8-3/16 and sink. The pellets are pretty hard.

Is the rejection based on something other than taste? I was wondering if the pellets need to be pre-soaked to soften them up since the BG have no problem sucking down worms and bread balls.

I'd like to try some other foods but don't want to buy bag after bag of food that will go to waste. Would anyone consent to sending me a sample of what you're using? I'd be glad to send out a sample of what I'm trying to use so you can see if your fish will eat it.

Is there another way to get samples to avoid buying big bags?

Thanks in advance.

The type of food makes a difference. Try soaking them first and see what happens. Fish have to learn to eat pellets. If the size is to big they spit them out like you encountered.

I experienced this very same thing three years ago when I first bought my farm. I got a bag of the generic gamefish food from Tractor Supply and the BG would do just what yours did - grab it and spit it right back out.

I ended up buying a more expensive feed - a 50 pound bad of Burris feed, and they hammered it the very first time. Ewest is right on - get a quality food and the fish will love it, plus it'll be much better for them.

I figured it might be the food. Now what to do with 39.83 lbs of useless fish food?

Here's the website as listed on the bag: www.SouthFreshFeeds.com. I can't find anything on their website that tells me they use anything but the finest ingredients. ;-)

-RFL

I bet once they get a little better feed trained you can just mix it in and they will eat it.

I think they're just picky! They boil the water for stale bread and are partial to Boar's Head roast beef, turkey and ham.

-RFL

The geese loved the TSC brand stuff I had on hand after buying the good feed. Take it to a local park and see if the geese/ducks there will eat it, then chalk it up to a relatively inexpensive bit of life experience!

I have had good luck with Purina Game Fish Chow. The protein's not as high as Aquamax, but the fish love it, and it's around half the cost.

That might just be the ticket. I'm not setting up a feeding program but just wanting something for people to use to entertain themselves.

-RFL

RFL normally we have a 20 bag minimum but since close you are more than welcome to come get our better food. Right now we have a 40-10 but waiting on shipment of 6 tons of 42-12. Much better than what you have. If they are eating food I would throw pellets in with them. If mainly wanting to fatten bluegill better to use high protein and fat anyways. Thanks and good luck.

Right now the feeding is for entertainment. The wife likes feeding her "pets" when we go up on the weekends and I'm getting tired of harvesting worms for her to use. ;-) Once we build the house and move in, a formal feeding program will be in order but right now I think Purina Game Fish Chow may be the best choice for just recreational feeding.

I feel very lucky to have you and Matt "in my backyard" so to speak and look forward to the shocking on the 17th.

-RFL

Well, the fish like the Purina Game Fish Chow much better than the South Fresh Feeds (SFF) food. Even though they still had trouble eating the pellets, the biggest difference was the same fish would try over and over to eat the same pellet whereas before with the SFF food, one try and they spit it out and went the other way. The Purina has a much stronger smell to it and I guess that keeps them interested.

Soaking some of the feed in water got them to eat everything that was tossed in.

50# is a lot of soaking and hand feeding. I need to get them onto the dry stuff pretty quickly so this bag can be consumed before it gets old.

-RFL

You'll be suprised how fast they learn. Are they spitting out all sized pellets, or just the larger ones?

I don't think they like the crunchiness and they're a bit leery of the floaters. If it's squishy and sinking, they're all over it. Of course these are the adolescents that aren't very shy and easy to catch. I did see one mature adult come for it but he stayed down deeper and wasn't as eager to wolf it down. I also had a hard-shell turtle swimming around in the chum cloud trying to get a piece before the bream ate it all up.

That stuff must put out some good smell.

Since this is only a weekend thing at best and we can't get out there more often, should I expect them to take to it and eat the hard ones off of the surface?

-RLF

I'm glad they like the Purina Game Fish Chow. I sat and watched a couple of feeders throw that I had changed over from Aquamax 500, to Purina Game Fish Chow, and the results were very good.

What I did notice, was that some of the smaller CNB swam around with a pellet in their mouths. I guess nibbling and spitting out is the best way I can describe it. They obviously couldn't swallow the whole pellets, but they stayed with them until they were small enough to swallow.

I also saw an abundance of FHM following them around. I'll try soaking some, and see how they react to that.

As a side note, I put out 6 Porcupine attractors last week under the throw area of my dam feeder, and the volume of CNB increased dramatically. That may be something you want to try. Not necessarily Porcupines, but some kind of added structure. It is amazing how quick added structure works.

I like that idea. Do you have any pictures of your new structure?

-RFL

The trees sink as far as the length of the trot line rope allows ( 2-8 ft in this case). Feeder throws on top of it. Lots of big BG.

Nope, but I got a pic of 5 in my pond boat. Any more and I would have had to wade out to place them.