Pond Boss Forums Thread Like Summary - how do you feed train fish

I have a 5 acre pond fresh stocked with BG Fathead minnows, redbreast sunfish and future SMB and CC. How do I feed train?

I absolutely believe that hand feeding my fish every day has provided me with much insight as to how and what a fish wants to eat. I still feel that if a particular situation would be best suited to a mechanical feeder, than they are invaluable. But I also think that a great many new pondowners who rush out and purchase feeders because they're simply on the "list", may be missing out.

As an example, I hand feed four ponds everyday. I begin with the HBG pond, and will throw out some feed and gage the fish's response, as to how much I give them. Once I have food on the water, I walk to the other ponds and do the same thing. When I have fed all four, I walk back and check out the HBG pond again. If I still have feed floating on the surface, I'm done. if it's gone, and it usually is, I throw more out and begin the process all over again.

Hand feeding and observation has taught me that my fish will usually feed better with a short interval between two separate feedings, rather than all the feed being thrown at one time. I think it stimulates a competitive response among the fish, which doesn't occur when there's an abundance of feed floating everywhere.

How do you feed train?

1) you buy them already feed trained.

2) you build fish cages, place young fish in the cages and acclimate them to eating pelleted fish food. You buy different sizes of fish food as they grow larger, feeders to feed 'em or have the time to feed them a couple times a day. You sort out the fastest growing, largest fish once a month or so, so the smaller ones aren't bullied to death.

It's not a simple process to feed train your own fish - it takes a pretty dedicated comitted pondmeister.

edit:

If you already have the fish in the pond, you can throw food in the pond and hope that they feed train themselves. That works best if you have an automated fish feeder. For the best rusults you should feed in the same place, at the same time EVERY day to get them acclimated to the food. The problem is that if there is a ton of natural forage in the pond, they might never feed train. Not many people have that rigid of a schedule 7 days a week, EVERY week that the water temps are above 60 degrees.