Sometimes its fun just to go out to the pier and put out very small numbers of pellets of feed for several minutes and watch the fish behavior. Our water levels are falling and the water is very clear right now. The water under one pier is only a couple of feet deep.
Last evening I watched the small BG come aggressively to the feed, the Tilapia chase each other and occasionally pick off a pellet, the 4 pound plus Florida LMB that will never be caught again by artificial lures come crashing through to terrorize the BG and pick one off, and most surprisingly, the HSB come into 1 to 2 feet of water looking for feed. The book says HSB do not go into shallow water; the book is wrong. What a sight to watch. The HSB completely ignore the presence of small BG and look for the feed pellets. The LMB just the opposite, they ignore the pellets and look for the vulnerable BG. The HSB in shallow water is a very nervous fish constantly moving. The markings on the fish are really spectacular in the water...they look to have specks on them instead of lateral lines.
The BG can sense or see the LMB coming long before I do and when they scatter, you then look for "jaws" and sure enough. jaws is there. The BG were completely unafraid of the HSB, on the other hand. Very large BG, very large, were seen lurking in the shadows and occasionally darting in to grab a pellet and quickly vanishing, having learned that jaws is also lurking nearby. The grass carp show up after a time and sip the occasional pellet not grabbed by a BG.
You don't even have to fish to have great fun at the pond. Sometimes just sitting and watching is the most fun of all.
