i have been trying for 2 years to get my local purina dealer to get me some lmb bass pellets. they kept telling me they were not on their list. mr. bing here on the forum has been kind enough to ship me a bag from time to time so i could keep my bass fed. after 2 years of asking-my dealer, sales rep, and distribution center finally figured out they were all looking for the wrong product number or something. so now they are available to me locally.

during this time i reached out to dustin at optimal. he sent me a sample of his bass pellets. but they are too small for me. my bg would get them before the lmb. they were about the same size as aquamax 600. so he then sent my some larger pellets that were designed for cobia. my bass loved them, but they are sinking pellets. at the most i only have about 10 bass that take pellets. so i needed floating pellets so i could watch them take the feed and know when to throw more.

last week before i found out i was finally going to be able to get purina pellets local, i reached out to dustin again. he said he had something he wanted me to try. he sent me a sample of a large floating pellet for bass. he said they plan to hit the market at the first of 2018. my bass are loving them. he said they are working with a feeder company and tweaking the size a little so they can be thrown automatically from a feeder.

i don't know dustin or any of the guys at optimal, but they sure seem to be listening to us pond owners. i asked him if i could share the news and he said yes. sounds like there may be a solution some of us have been looking for right around the corner.

Great news Scott! It amazes me that we hold so tightly to the old school ways of only DEALERS being allowed to order products, using antiquated order systems, order numbers that only dealers know, minimum orders based on skids, customers must ask for favors for dealers to ask other dealers to share products from their skid to avoid ordering a complete skid themselves, etc etc.

While I would love to and try to support my local brick and mortar stores, they will struggle mightily in the future as so many newer retailers have mastered the problems of inventory, self-ordering, and rapid accurate shipping.

Hearing that optimal has rapidly brought several good products to market, is listening and rapidly adjusting to customer needs, and has worked out good distribution systems even for one bag at a time customers is so heartening.

Scott, what is a 'large' pellet? Give us dimensions and pictures if you can!

Good news!

I was fortunate enough to receive the large bass 'hand throw' pellets from Optimal earlier this year. They are very much like Aquamax Largemouth. It's crazy but I have redears that just DESTROY them. I believe you'll be very happy with them.

canyon, like nedoc said, they are about the same size as aquamax largemouth, but a little smoother and more uniform. they are also a little lighter in color than am. i'll do my best to get a picture tomorrow. the ones that will go to market soon may be a little smaller than the ones i have. they are hoping to get the size so avenger feeders will throw them.

nedoc, my bg will eat the large bass pellets, but of course they can't swallow them whole. they will continue to hit them until they get soft enough tear apart.

once my bg get large enough to take them whole, i think my mission will be complete..haha. that would take a big bluegill!!

I wonder if redears consume them easier due to their 'shellcracking' capabilities? Mine seem to have no issues with them. Of course redears seem to have a bit larger mouth for their size also. And many of mine are 10+.

If average feeders are being targeted to throw them, then 9.5mm is max size.

My SMB realy like the current optimal bass pellets but I am sure they would eat a larger pellet.