I run my Texas Hunter feeder for 10 seconds three times per day. The fish eat it all in about one minute. Am I feeding enough?

I'm not sure mine would ever quit eating. What are you feeding them? ( protein) how do they look, growth wise, are they fat? My fish eat all that my TH feeder throws in about 15 seconds

using purina chow - my fish look great - just a ton of them and they hammer the feed quickly - no catfish - just sunfish

Tim,
If a 50 pound bag lasts 10 days to two weeks with your 2+ acre pond, that's about right. That means you're feeding 3.5-4 pounds per day. Over a 40 week (give or take a little bit) season, that means you'll feed an average of 1,000-1,200 pounds of feed. If you are feeding AquaMax 500, your conversion rate is about 1.3 to 1. If you are feeding Game Fish Chow or one of the Pond Chows, conversion is closer to 2:1. That means you will have a gain of 500-900+ pounds. That's good for a recreational fishing pond.

Thanks Bob - think I got all the coontail killed - water is still dark and not clear which is good. Using my 35 gallon per minute well pump to keep the water level up.

My bluegills are all looking good and fat - and lots of them

I recently bought a Texas Hunter feeder to replace one of my three 10 - 15 year old Sweeney Feeds. I think they are great by the way, but I am still working to try to duplicate the amount a feed out of my TH vs, the Sweeney. I have always feed multi times per day, based on season, for three seconds per feeding. Three seconds in the Sweeney feeders spins out about 1 and a quarter to 1 and a half pounds. It takes about 15 seconds to feed that amount through the Texas Hunter. No problem with that, but it took a while to get the new one balanced.

I turned mine up to 15 seconds three times per day - so I am throwing out around a pound to pound and a half as you mentioned. It is gone in under 60 seconds.

I will say the Texas Hunter throws that stuff a long ways - pretty powerful feeder

Yes, the TH feeder is very strong throwing it a long way in a great wide part. Lots of room for lots of fish to feed on.

Bob, if I understood you here, feed around 2 lbs per acre for recreation pond? I am pretty sure that is the first time I have ever seen pounds per acre per day recommendation here. I am pretty sure one has to be a little flexible here but it sounds like a good place to start. Heck, I think if I understood it before now, was to feed all they can eat in less than 15 min, and like some of us, that could be 10 lbs before the bg quit eating it all in that time frame. Thanks for the post up

That about what I throw I bet maybe a little less. I have a 3 second feed, and a 2 second feed but its being thrown from a Remington deer feeder also which I believe throws a bit more food per second depending your adjustment height. I would just as soon leave my fish a bit hungry anyway I don't want them to forget what it's like to actually have to fend for themselves. Plus it helps when it comes to fishing for them as well they will still take a artificial bait a little better when all you do is supplement feed them.

RC

What I recommend is feed *what* they can eat in less than 15 minutes, up to all they can eat, depending on your pocketbook and what the goals are for your particular pond.

Meaning is the feed a supplement to the natural forage in the pond; is the feed the primary source of food in the pond or are you feeding for the enjoyment of watching the fish?

Feeding all they can eat in 15 minutes takes constant adjustment of the feeding amount due to the time of year and daily weather conditions so you don't waste food. i.e. what they will eat in 15 minutes today might not be what they eat in 15 minutes tomorrow.

Oh yeah no doubt. Once my fish go on their beds my feeding goes down by half. So I don't even try to feed in what they can eat in 15 minutes. I don't have time to jack with my feeder that much. I keep my feeding times constant and set it and forget it. And I guarantee it's all gone in 2 to 3 minutes not 15 and I still have pound and half BG. If your Eco system is on track in your pond your pond will feed your fish as well. You just have to trust it. Now with that being said if your wanting 2 plus pound BG constantly you may have to push the envelope a little more....I just flat cant afford it.

RC

I am getting pretty close to feeding the cnbg close to 3 yrs in my pond. And I have gone through many a learning curve in the process. And my feeding bill this past year is way down from a year or two ago. But I will say those little fish can eat a lot. The 3 yr old large bg are a little harder to catch these days, but when I do hook up with one it's like our stock market today, setting new record highs.

I thought I would try to see what they "could" eat in 15 minutes yesterday afternoon. IT IS A LOT! I have about a 2 cup scoop, and would fill about 3/4 full and throw it out. They could finish one scoop in less than 10 seconds. By the time I filled the scoop again and threw it out, the previous scoop was nealy gone. I did this 15+ times before feeding started to slow some, but still only took 30 seconds for the last scoop. I quit counting after scoops after 10 throws, because I realized I need a known weight before I start to really know how much. Also the feeder went off for 20 seconds, and hand fed about 1/2 gallon of AM Largemouth. Guessing over 15# total and they were still eating good.

Next time I am going to start with a 40# bag and weigh what is left. It rained pretty hard today so might try it again Wednesday if they are feeding good. I normally feed about 4# per day and hand throw another pound or two most afternoons, but curious to know how much they could eat.

Brian, I am thinking a good nap and a good poop will get them right back for more. Are the lmb also eating the food or just the cnbg?

CNBG will bump it around a few seconds, then either a LMB or HSB will come take it.