Hi,

After reading alot of information here on the benefits of AM600 for bluegill, I decided I'd try to track some down locally. Tractor Supply is able to special order it for me, but the price is $49.99 for what I assume is a 50lb bag. That is about 4x the price of the Sportman's Choice stuff TSC already has on the shelf.

Is that a fair price for this stuff or is TSC marking it up due to the special order?

-Jason

I think you should contact the nearest grain COOP or elevator that handles Purina feed. They can special order for you and my guess is the price will be cheaper.

At the local elevator nearest our place a 50 lb. bag of Purina Aquamax MVP is slightly less than $40. I believe MVP is in line with AM600 in terms of quality and price. BM61.

Thanks for the info. I was kind of expecting $25-30/bag but sounds like the TSC isn't too far above the market rate. I think TSC will discount if you by 5+ bags. I haven't worked out my monthly rate yet but I won't be surprised if 50lbs will last me most of the warm season in my 1/4 acre BG pond.

We paid $38 something a bag last year for AQ600 & AQ500. I don't expect it to be lower this year.

Coldsprings, I fed purina last year...as well as the TSC feed when I couldn't get purina. I have also fed Optimal. I know it seems expensive compared to the TSC feed, but if you look at the breakdowns of the feeds, the first ingredients, fish meal compared to grain based meals thats where most of your expense comes from. The higher quality base ingredients.

But I will tell you simply from my experiences, The higher quality feeds are much more palatable (taste better) to the fish you are targeting. Simply watching the response after a few feedings of each. The reaction, the intensity of which the fish strikes the feed is MUCH stronger and faster, then even the way they look after feeding each type for a while.

I was a an agri teacher for about a decade I had MANY kids showing...feeding everything from all purpose pellets to Moormans and Purina show cattle feeds. Your talking 6-8 dollars a bag to well into the 20's for a bag. Could you tell a difference in the cattle when it came time to show...sure you could. When growing out livestock you really are what you eat. The higher quality base ingredients you have the better growth and overall health and look of the animals in question will be...weather fish, cattle, dogs, etc. I think you'll love the AM feed. I fed 500 last year. I think I'm going to go back to Optimal this spring, but they are BOTH great feeds.

Have fun with it, nothing better than sitting on the bank on a spring evening watching the fish eat. About the most relaxing thing you could I think!

There is a difference in feed quality. I feed Optimal which is just about the most expensive out there. But, I see a huge difference in my fish.

I think I paid around 42 dollars for MVP last year but I am not where I can check to be sure.

some pictures of different feeds

I will try and remember to update the above thread this spring with some more pictures. Planning on getting some Optimal LMB and maybe some others. Already have Optimal BG but no pics.

Thanks for the information guys. I can appreciate the importance of higher quality foods from my koi pond experience back in the day. I remember fish swimming past lower quality feeds in favor of the good stuff. I also saw lighter biomass loading in the pond filters with better quality feeds. I actually stumbled on an interesting trial of the various feeds that I'll share here. The company that conducted the trial manages my brother in laws pond and I've always been impressed with the health and quantity of fish.
Bluegill Feed Trials

I've decided its worth paying the $50 for this first bag but I'll definitely be researching other sources as I plan on building another 2-4 acres of ponds over the next few years.

Interesting test. Greg Grimes owns the company, has a Masters Degree in Fisheries Management and about 20 years experience. He’s a good guy

Good basic study and has the expected results. Many fish feeding studies are difficult to decipher and apply to each particular goal/situation. Some are proprietary (private not peer reviewed) and the results/design can be skewed. You have to factor into any results and decisions your situation and goals. One important factor is the % your fish rely on feed vs natural diet (how supplemental is your feeding). Keep in mind that in most unmanaged waters the biggest cause of poor fish results is not enough food for the fish. With that in mind just about any supplemental food is better than none. The more you rely on feed the more important the quality of the food.

Eric, in all your research of studies, have you ever run across what happens to feed trained fish if and when they come off of feed drastically?

IE...if you have fed multiple generations of BG and the YOY have been raised on feed all their lives, and you are feeding as much as many of us do,which would probably be more than just a supplement to many fish, timed, multiple times a day; if something happened and you were not able to feed for whatever reason...would the fish have trouble reverting back to natural forage for a time?? Perhaps even have a drastic loss of relative weight?

I know taking a show calf and kicking them out in field after the show circuit or when they age out, is normally pretty tough on them...body condition wise. You try to get kids to ween the animals off but that doesn't always go the way you hoped.

I'm not going to change my feeding, I'm just curious if you have read or seen that, or think they would.

Thanks for all your study! Its much appreciated...here and in the magazine!

Nice information on the feed trial.

Rapid change in the pond is always difficult. Because the fish population increases with good feeding stopping feeding without fish removal (harvest) will lead to undernourished fish in bad condition. Same with all productive aspects to pond mgt such as fertilization. Some studies indicate that feed raised fish from birth do not do well when put into a normal pond where existing fish are used to foraging on natural food with a little sup feeding.

Have my new best friend along for the ride today. I can tell its high in fish meal content...its giving my truck that shrimpy ammonia smell! So from everything I've read this should be the cure all for my pond right? My pond isn't even stocked yet...how many bluegill eggs does one bag of this stuff have in it?

Cold Spring

Here is what you will get feeding AQ600 if all goes right.

Possible 10 to 11 inch BG






Then you get great spawns from your BG and you can end up with this.


6 lbs HSB and 5 pound LMB of course some other things must be in play but the AQ 600 kicks it all up a notch IMO.

Oh and the others are right I also pay about 38 bucks a bag.

NICE! I read in an older post about the risk of HSB switching to pellets instead of eating BG fry. Have you had any issues with that?

Actually my HSB were pellet trained and then when they got bigger around 3 pounds they started eating BG. They will switch over to both at some point unless you were to buy the LMB pellets the HSB will eat them too once they get larger. That one in the pic I caught Easter weekend 2017 on a 2 inch BG on a hook. Stocked him in 2012

I'm doing some research and I may have trouble getting HSB in South Carolina. I know they put hundreds of thousands of them in our local reservoir every year, but so far I'm not finding a fishery that actually has them for sale. If I can't find them I guess I'll have to go the LMB route. Thanks for the info though!

A little searching found these two private fish farms who have HSB in SC.
http://www.tcafish.com/fishfarm.htm
http://www.fishmanfarms.com/contact.html

Thanks for finding these. That's a bit of a drive but at least I know they are available.

Call them and you might be able to meet them when they are making a delivery in your area to another pondowner.