Bill,

I agree completely with your note. However, I would like to add another contributing factor from my experience. My bass, which includes stocked Floridas and native East Texas bass from 70 years ago generations, sometimes take pellets...but they ALWAYS line up to take Bluegill feeding on the pellets. The bluegill are highly concentrated during feeding and very vulnerable. The smart bass figure this out. They begin to congregate 15 minutes before the feeders go off and then gorge themselves on the unsuspecting bluegill once the feeders expell the feed. The Bluegill never figure this out or rather choose the feed over the risks of being devoured by Bass. It is really quite a show.

Bass in my pellet feed ponds are virtually uncatchable. Bass in much smaller non-feed ponds are readily catchable...even two to three times a month. In my small world, I believe that is attributable to both learning but more so to abundant bluegill that can be easily caught during feeding.

I'm well aware that my one sample does not a theory make or prove...but if one wants to catch bass rather than just watch them grow in a pond, you better seriously consider the subject of artificial feeding and what it can do to "catchability".