Good discussion Eastland,
I guess I consider feeding fish more of an "outside" their usual element. They are after all in the pond being exposed to lots of opportunities to feed on whatever they instinctively are attracted to 100% of their living life where-as the percent of time they are presented pellets in miniscule.
Pellets are no different to a fish than an enormous hatch of mayflies IMO. They are presented with an abundance of food & they take advantage. This doesn't mean they don't feed on other offerings the rest of the time, again IMO.
