I've notice that the LMB are continually feeding in the middle of my pond, out in the open water. These are small fish since I have a over crowding problem I'm working on.
Are these fish feeding on YOY BG out in the open water at the surface?
I purchased the property late last summer and to the best of my knowledge there are only LMB and BG in the pond and not much cover. I've been adding shallow water cover such as cedars and pines this past winter.
If they are really feeding in 'open' water, that would not be a normal place for YOY BG to hang out; YOY BG might tend to hang close to cover.
They could be feeding on schools of YOY LMB or some other open water minnow like threadfin shad.
Of course, it could still be bluegill!
They are feeding in the open water, I'll catch a few of them each time I'm out there.
I didn't think about it being YOY LMB, that could be it. I haven't seen a shad so I pretty sure it's not shad.
How big are these LMB you are observing?
Often times insect hatches occur in the middle of ponds. The small bass maybe utilizing the hatches. Even though the insects and their larvae are small, they are so abundant even bass will feed on them.
I agree that it could be insects and such.
You may be right about the insects, I've notice several small juncos on my dock that look like they are feeding on insects over the water.
Thanks for the info.
Hatches of many aquatic insect species are very common in spring. You see it more in rivers, but it can occur in lakes and ponds with the right habitat and species present. I fish a lake in PA that has such a heavy hatch of stone flies that even the walleye will surface feed on them right at dark! I have seen several ponds where you could catch bass, even ones in the four pound range using a dry fly matching the hatch. However, smaller bass are much more common dinner table customers on such fare.
Juncos are a family of birds. The most common is the slate-colored junco which is very abundant in the winter time in PA. You often see them foraging on the ground in the winter in flocks of 2 or 3 dozen birds. I am not familiar with them feeding on flying insects though and as warm weather of spring comes in, they migrate north to their breeding grounds.
CJBS2003 is correct, except now there is just one species of junco called the dark-eyed junco. There use to be 5 or 6 different species and the slate was one of them but then "they" just combined them to one species.
The birds are noticeable because of their dark eyes and pink bill and are in the sparrow family.
They sit on my dock and swoop out over the water then back to the dock. They are gone now, headed north.