My TH feeders do well with BG feed, up to about 1/4 inch thick and an inch long. However, when I try LMB food, about 1/2 inch, the feeders struggle. Within a few days, they invariably jam up. Not a design flaw, they just weren't engineered for stuff that large.

So I'm looking at the Texas Avenger 80 lb Bigmouth feeder, but I've been told this is best for 3/4 to 1 inch feed. Half an inch might not work because it's too small. Frustrating...

Anyway, I'm trying to research the Bigmouth, which apparently isn't used much by ordinary pondmeisters.

Two questions. First, anybody know anybody who has tried the Bigmouth? What do they say?

Second, is there any research on the benefits of big pellets vs. small stuff for LMB and hybrid stripers? Even the largest CNBG can't do much with the 1 inch stuff (though they love the 1/2 inch), but the bass & stripers go absolutely nuts, preferring it greatly. I'm thinking that they will do better in terms of weight gain since it requires a lot less energy to eat the same amount of actual food, but maybe I'm wrong.

Any thoughts or comments? I am okay with spending the $ for a Bigmouth IF and only if it really benefits the fishery.

Ive not figured out the benefits of the larger pellets. My question is just how much energy does it take to eat 2 pellets instead of 1 pellet?

Dave, I figure a one inch pellet has about twenty times the weight of a standard BG pellet. Maybe more. So it's a matter of two giant pellets equal to forty smaller ones.

Also, the one inchers are much less likely to get eaten by the numerous panfish before the LMB or HSB can get to them.

But I simply don't know if that makes enough of a difference compared with just feeding regular BG food. Maybe the commercial guys have figured it out, I was told that ordinary pondowners like myself rarely use the big feed. Florida appears to be the place where the Bigmouth feeder is in greatest demand, maybe for trophy bass lakes, but even there it's not that common.

Great question Dave, I wonder the same thing. Both the HSB and the Northern feed trained LMB are both very aggressive when feeding on the Purina LMB feed. If I downsize the feed then I can see that's twice as much energy spent on explosive attack of the feed.

Frank, you are asking the same the way I read your post. How much are they asking for the bigmouth feeder? Today and this past couple of weeks I have slowed down my hand feeding the Purina lmb feeding to twice per week. Mostly because its been cold and wet for me to go and do it.

Tracy, I've noticed that the LMB and HSB tend to take several small pellets at a time when they blow up on them, unlike the giant one inch feed. So maybe it's five or ten blowups on smaller food for one on the big stuff, not twenty to one as I originally assumed.

Surely someone has done research on this, but if so I've not heard of it.

An additional advantage of the giant feed is that the fish are less exposed to predatory birds. They can get their fill relatively quickly, then head deep or into heavy cover.

Sorry, Tracy, I almost forgot your question. BigMouth costs around $1k, couple hundred more than 70 lb TH feeder. But that BigMouth price includes solar panel & battery, plus there is much less assembly required.

I love Texas Hunter feeders and will continue using them, except maybe for this special application. Probably I should get a few more feed trained HSB and F1 LMB if I pull the trigger on this idea.

How big are the Optimal hand throw pellets? Or their bass pellets for that matter? I can’t recall.

Optimal Handthrow pellets are promoted to be 1" pellet size and of the same nutrient composition as the bass food enhanced formulation of 44% protein and 8% fat. The bass food pellets are said to be 11/32" (9mm) size pellet. However my experience with the bass pellets is for the different production date bags, pellets can range in size from 9/32" to 3/8". This is still very acceptable since the formulation is said to be for bass and trophy bluegill. I am currently feeding these bass 9mm pellets to my jumbo yellow perch as an experimental feeding trial.

The Optimal Hand Throw are pretty similar to Aquamax Largemouth in size.

I have had them both but not together at the same time.

Fireishot has one of the Sweeney Bigmouth Feeders I believe.

Thanks.

Al, do u have and use the sweeny big mouth feeder to throw the larger feed to your HSB? Any thoughts?

Tracy, as far as I know, the Sweeney's won't throw 1" pellets. They are rated for up to 1/2" pellets, so they throw my Cargill 3/8" pellets like butter. Maybe they'll add an 1" auger option at some point, but I would think it would have to be a dedicated feeder for that though. Smaller food might be thrown by the pound with the Sweeney. I've made an aluminum plate that blocks half of the auger opening when throwing smaller food on one of the Sweeneys.

A 5 second throw by a TH, and a 5 second throw by a Sweeney are 2 different animals. I cut Sweeney feeder throw times down by 1-2 seconds to get the same volume as the TH. I loved my TH feeders, but I will say it is much easier to throttle down the fish food flow on a Sweeney, than it is to open it up on a TH. Both are great feeders.

I haven't researched 1" capable pellet feeders because I drive by the dam pier a dozen times a day. That and my HSB are ghosts most of the time. I only stocked 20, and they don't always feed consistently, so I always start with a hand throw of 4-5 pellets. Some days they'll eat half of a big coffee can, and other days they're nowhere to be found.

Now a question for you feed trained LMB guys/gals. Did you up the throw times to match the LMB growth?

Al, I matched throw times to feeding activity, mostly CNBG. Kept seeing huge blowups from LMB and HSB, which got me interested in larger feed designed for them.

I think large feed might be a next step for LMB focused pondmeisters. BG are the backbone of the fishery, but it takes 10 lb of them for 1 lb of LMB growth. Only takes 2 lb quality dry feed for 1 lb LMB growth.

And it would take some pressure off the CNBG, too.

Al, since my water has cleared to around 5' I can watch the lmb and HSB as they swim around the area where the TH feeder throws. As I watch them sometimes I will throw out 5 +- of the Purina lmb feed and watch to see what I can see. Usually the lmb will feed first but only seem to eat a chunk or two per fish before they will slow down feeding and about that time the HSB realizes what's going on and then they will feed. I have fed to the point where they will also lose interest. The hsb eat more per fish or it seems that way. My container that is used during the feeding holds about 100 lmb pellets. I will feed around 250 pellets at one of the feeder areas where I might see 20 to 30 hsb and 6 to 8 lmb. I am guessing the lmb will be in the 3.5lb size and the hsb will average around the same. Some larger at or around 4lbs and some smaller at 2 lbs. The larger sized lmb and hsb that are at 5 lbs + do not seem to feed on the fish food. I know the larger are in the pond because I have caught some of them on rod and reel. Right now there are some lmb that are over 7 lbs and some hsb that are over 6 lbs and maybe even a few that are a little bigger in the pond.