Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Feeding Aquamax seems to be the ticket for us.

Just wanted to show this example of the bluegill that a year of Aquamax 500 and 600 has helped us. In fact, since we removed the normal catfish food from the second feeder and just decided to use the two sizes of Aquamax to cover all the fish in our pond, all the fish, including the CC and GP have grown at kinda an alarming rate.

However, it seems to come with a downside, in that our fish have ( BG can still be caught in the summer months with floating grasshoppers live or fake ) have all become so picky and difficult to catch it has become an "observation pond".

I guess that is not a bad thing, we have almost no one to fish it, I have a broken back and it is very painful for me to spend any length of time fishing, but when we have company I have always enjoyed that fact we have a pond stuffed with a lot of very big fish that are not bothered or even feel a human presence for weeks on end.

Yet, they ( ALL of them, regardless of species, especially the CC ) are much more difficult to catch the last few years after we installed a couple of Moultrie feeders ( very good products for this purpose by the way, for us anyway ) and they just continue to get bigger and more plentiful as everything except the GC are reproducing in numbers that keep me from ever stocking anything.

Just an observation from me folks, I know this topic is debated back and forth, I can only tell you that it is happening to us clearly, we have had 7 years to observe them.

On another note, when I do have guests and I know about it a week or so in advance, I shut off the feeders thinking they will eat up anything offered, but it is only marginally successful. The fish that are caught have layers of fat on them according to those that do manage to catch some.

When the feeders go off in the late afternoon, it is a very fun filled 8 minutes ( at the most, usually lasts only 3 minutes or so and all the chow is gone, so I am pretty confident I am not overfeeding ) as the water just boils with all the fish in the pond with the exception of the LMB getting in on the action, very fast and violent.

One of the oddest behaviors we have witnessed during this time is the very large GC, ( 5 of them ) which are much larger than anything in the pond, including some 15 pound CC, are apparently unwilling to "mix it up" in the main attack, evidently not wanting to get in that boil of large CC and a lot of tail slapping and probably sharp fins everywhere. Instead, they stay off just out of the rukus and simply circle slowly and wait it out, after the CC and BG, etc all get to the point that they have scattered the pellets to the other part of the pond with their wave action, the GC very deliberately and slowly manage to grab each and every remaining pellet that the other fish and turtles have left for them, all in a very graceful and slow surfacing with just enough movement to see them, so long and oddly graceful, and while the CC will not bother with single pellets and the BG and other fish are busy with the stuff close in, they are very content to pick off singles one at a time.

I know I should remove some or all of them ( I have NO vegetation and never did, please don't ask me why I got them in the first place, I already feel stupid enough for all the mistakes I have made ) and I have NO idea how they got so incredibly huge in such a short time considering I put them in years before I ever began feeding. They were 10-12 inches when planted, one of our Amish neighbors caught one on a worm ( no idea how that happened, never repeated in 7 years ) just about 18 months later and it was already 34 inches long and NOT skinny by a long shot. By the way, according to the Missouri information, they claim it is one of the best freshwater fish one can eat, so when asked if they could eat it I said sure. The next day they told me it was indeed the best fish they had ever eaten. Then again, they were usually very hungry

However, since they present no problems for me other than use up some of the nutrients and seem to perform a great service to me eating any food that would otherwise spoil, I suspect they are safe.

Well, that and I cannot catch them, cannot hit one with the crossbow, cannot find anything big enough to eat them, etc ..:)

Catbird, here's how you can increase your catch rate in your pond.

First, use an ultralight spinning rod with 4# test line. Then use an Owner Mosquito hook, #10. http://www.ownerhooks.com/products/hooks/downshotsystem.htm#5177 (scroll down a bit to where you see a trout. The hooks that I'm talking about are listed under them.)

Put one or two pieces of Stubby Steves
http://www.stubbysteve.com/ on the hook, making sure that the hook point and part of the hook bend is exposed (you want to leave enough exposed to get a good hookset). If you use two pieces, slide one piece up and onto the line about one pellet lenght away from the eye of the hook. Two pieces will give you a little more weight to cast with. I don't use a bobber, nor any weight, just the hook and the Stubby Steves.

Go to where you would normally feed the fish, and throw out a small amount of feed, maybe 20-30 pieces. Just enough to attract the fish and let them know that there's food. Cast out the Stubby Steves and watch the line as it's laying on the surface of the water. When it moves, set the hook. Stubby Steve pellets don't swim away on their own.

If the fishing slows down, throw out another tiny handfull of food.

Thanks for the tip, you have helped me before, and in fact mentioned this food I think, I have bookmarked the page now. I did not add that when I do fish, as well as my neighbor, we do use the tackle almost exactly as you described ( not out of any intelligence on our part, more that we wanted to get all the fight we could out of the large BG the Aquamax was churning out )...however, we have not tried the bait yet, I will buy some and in the spring we will give it another shot. However, I should note that no fish in the pond will come to the surface any longer for any food I toss in to check, they never do each year, they just "shut down" as far as any floating pellets this time of the year, so I am not sure how this will work, but certainly worth the shot!

We pull down the feeders in the 2nd week of October each year in this part on Missouri. I watch the feeding become less intense as the days grow shorter and it almost comes to a stop about now, so up go the feeders until spring.

We are a little confused why it is still so difficult to catch ANYTHING this last month since the feeders are gone. I realize as the water cools off ( it has remained very warm this year late, water is still not very cool ) all the fish slow down, but BG are caught under ice every year, I had assumed that with the bugs nearly gone since our first couple of frosts, with very little food supply ( still have a lot of mosquito fish and other minnows though ) the BG at least would continue to pester the bait as always even when we are trying for the much larger CC. However, they are very reluctant to hit anything, yet I still see occasional surface activity whenever a bug is feeling lucky ( they are not and I know some feeding has to occur.

In the years past, we were able to at least hit the BG even in the winter with lures and bait, I suppose it is possible I don't have near as many of them in the pond as I think, I have not put one in the pond in 6 years. Yet each summer I have a few visits from people that really know what they are doing, and they pull them in like a commercial tuna fleet, so I am still a bit confused.

Thanks for reminding me of that bait, I will try that!

My fish have slowed down here lately too it's normal.. I think if your not catching fish (in normal season) the problem is most likely your approach.. I try and chock my fish full of feed but can still go catch buckets full.. You can't go out with a big ole bobber and big ole shiny hook, I say large male BG are about as smart as any fish if not the smartest so you have to use finesse and be cautious with them..

My fish have slowed also, but I'm still feeding everyday...although the end is in sight. I've mentioned here before that I find our fish more difficult to catch since implementing the feeding program a few years ago. That's exactly why Stubby Steve's exists today...the idea that fed fish may sometimes be harder to catch.

On the other hand, I look at what I'm doing, and I believe I'm part of the problem. I fish my ponds nearly everyday, and it's almost always catch and release. I think my fish have become somewhat conditioned to this, and are wary. They know my habits and routines, as well as my fishing style, and they tend to pass on anything that doesn't look like a pellet.

Catbird, try making a change to your offering. I've been catching BG on size 12 and 14 ice jigs, suspended below a float and tipped with a waxworm or mealworm. My fish have moved out to deeper water, but they still feed near the top, especially in the evening. I set my float to around 3-4' of depth, and take fish in water that is 8-10' deep.

Fish learn, and some will remember. A number of years ago I bucket stocked my pond with a white 1" curly tail grub and a 1/100th oz jighead. I couldn't catch a BG on that combo in my pond even a year later. Change the color and they'd hit.

Ice fishing jigs and an ice fishing bobber on ultralight spinning tackle is a great way to catch finicky fish.

That's pretty interesting info esshup and a good way to test..

Very nice BG !!!!! It looks as big as a plate. Well done.

Egads! I didn't realize there was a pic until I read ewest's post...That is an awesome BG!

The reason behind suggesting those specific hooks is because 1) being a thin wire hook, the pellet floats and 2) They are super sharp, and it's easy to hook fish providing you leave some of the hook gap open. The SS lures are tough and don't move out of the way easily.