Posted a while back about a new home with a clay pit pond. 20-30ft deep. About a 1/2 acre. Bluegill and catfish in it. Used to throw fish food in and it looked like the water was boiling. Ran out of food and didn't feed for a couple months. Put 6 12 inch or so lmb in to begin stocking. Finally got around to getting g more food and seems all the bg have vanished. Won't eat the food. Can't catch them when before you could about use a bare hook. What gives?

Just a thought from a newbie, do you aerate? If not, the depth may not matter as much as the fish might only be able to stay in the top part of the water column. That takes your really deep pond and really makes it alot smaller. If its a clay pit is there anywhere for the BG to hide out? Any structure? 12" lmb could really put a hurting on some BG with no where to hide and nothing else for the lmb to eat. I know its only 6, but maybe the BG are weary and do not want to venture out like they used to. Any idea what the sizes were of the BG? Maybe alot of one particular size that was perfect for a 12" lmb to eat? These are just thoughts from things I have read on here. I'm sure the experts will chime in soon.

Sure. There is shoreline dollar pads and a little brush. Other than that I'm not sure yet. There was a good variety of size. Some nice slabs bigger than my hand as well any feeder size.

Oh and no it is not aerated

Could be simple timing. Cooler water might account for less activity, especially if you had been catching them during a spawn or prespawn feeding binge. Also, did you harvest those fish or release them? Any chance others are fishing your pond without your knowledge?

Released the fish back. was checking to see what my population was like. No chance anybody else is fishing it.

Also, I did notice as the fall came we had a number of dead fish. Nothing like the entire population but several. Probably a dozen that I could count. Don't see them anymore, but for a couple week stretch we noticed dead fish

Winter vacation !

For most pond fish as water cools they become less active (they are cold blooded so there metabolism drops). All activity slows down including swimming and eating.

yeah but it has still been in the 70s and 80s here. I know the water has cooled but it is far from cold

What is your water temp? At about 55F BG feeding slows.

Not sure but fairly positive it is not that cold. Our lows have been on tje 50s and 60s.

Okay, what do you think happened to them? You must have a suspicion of something? Not trying to be a smart..., just pointing out that either the fish are still in there, or they're not. Is it your technique, or external factors which are to blame?

No, I do believe they are still there, but I have never dealt with feeding fish fish food. this is a new property and i am a well versed fisherman. I have also previously owned stocked ponds although I did not feed them. I have never had issues getting bluegill to bite. I guess I am asking,

1. if you stop feeding BG for a while, will they forget and need to be reconditioned to feeding on fish food?
2. did the introduction of LMB to the pond even though it was only 5 or 6, cause them to be more reluctant about being so overly active?

Just seems to be such a drastic change in activity in just a few months time. I used to throw a handful of floating food in and it looked like a hatchery, now they won't even come to eat it at all

I understand. It is most likely the drop in temps. Do you see small fish swimming the pond edge? BG do not forget where the food is and hunger trumps most every other factor. If none are eating pellets then they are not hungry. There is an old concept in feeding pellets that has a lot of merit - let the fish tell you what they want.

It is not suggested that you stop and start feeding for a month during the time the BG are eating.

dchance, what you describe used to drive me nuts, until I realized there are, or could be so many factors/influences involved within that ecosystem, out of our control (as the others have stated).

For weeks on end it's a feeding frenzy, the fish are biting non-stop, life is good. Then, like a light switch it changes. I'm scratching my head and going into a panic thinking there's something wrong or it's something I've done. Is it due to a spawn period, barometric pressure, newly hatched forage, unknown predator killing my fish, drop in DO (algae die-off), too many cloudy days, too many sunny days, heavy rains, moon phase, pond turned over, maybe I'm wearing the wrong color clothes (yes, it's crossed my mind), etc.

Now when it happens I'll use any one of the above reasons/excuses, wait it out, and before long things are back to "normal",,,,, until the next head-scratcher.

If it's any consolation, my fish aren't feeding, I haven't caught a LMB or HSB in over a month and can't catch a BG over 5-6". But I have other issues I'm dealing with.

Hang in there and I'm guessing (hoping) that you'll be reporting back with some positive news.

PS - I too have ran out of food but it never took but more than a few days for them to get back into the routine, especially the BG. Unless it was one of those down-spells.

In that case, I go back to my original post. I think lower water temps are the culprit.

Bear in mind that in small bodies of water, conditions can change very quickly. In our 2.2a puddle, a brief shower creates enough cold run-off to turn the bite right off.

You can say that again Bocomo. I thought the fishing bite had slowed at my place. Then yesterday just before sundown at feeding time I notice the water just boiled with BG while feeding. So I fished for about 20 minutes and BAM! One right after the other, nice 8" BG would hit the bait shortly after it hit the water. Rain was predicted for that night and weather was changing.

The bite in my pond can go from almost nothing to can't keep them off the hook (or the other way around) in very short order.

Some things I have observed about feeding.

I nearly always feed around the perimeter of the pond, throwing out feed from a moving 4 wheel UTV. The fish have become accustomed to the sound/vibration of that UTV. Any time I drive around the pond in it, fed or no feed, I can see the wakes of the small to mid size BG heading toward me. They immediately start hitting feed as I throw it out.

If I walk out to the pond and throw a little feed out.............. nothing. For a little while. First a fish or two will find the feed, then their splashing draws a few more, then within a few minutes I can have lots of fish feeding. But without the "dinner bell" of the UTV driving around the fish do not know to come till the splashing of a few draws the others in.

I have no feeder. So when I leave for a week, if my grandson is around, sometimes he might or might not feed the fish for me. One time while gone for a full week, they did not get fed any. Upon return, driving around the pond with the UTV, few fish came in for feed. After a while (much like walking around with feed) a few would feed and draw in the others. It took about 3-4 days for the fish to get fully conditioned to the sound/vibration of the UTV as the "dinner bell". Each day a few more would join in till everything was back to normal.

Although my most often time of feeding is evening right before sundown, If I am going to be gone at that time I might feed any time of day. As long as I am in the UTV, they will come for the feed. Morning, noon or night.

It takes fish a while to get conditioned to a routine. "They" say to feed at the same time and same place each day and I think that would be best. But I think one key to the fish coming is that they know what the "dinner bell" is. I think if a person is not able to feed at regular times, some form of conditioning would suffice. For example a piece of pipe banged on right before feeding time I bet would do it. Sound travels exceptionally well under water (the fish CAN hear my footsteps when I walk out on the dock).

Once the fish learn the routine, whatever it is, you have them hooked on feeding.

Thanks for all the input guys. much appreciated. I really need to try to be more regular with feeding.

Your fish will be as consistent as you are. While the answers above are absolutely true, if you feed fish every day, same time, same place and the water temperatures are above 55, your fish will feed. But, you quit, they quit. I'd feed them every day, same time, until the water temperatures drop. My bet is that they'll come to the offerings, but it may take them a few days, because you haven't been consistent.

I have purchased an automatic feeder kit. hopefully the consistency will get them feeding again. should I run the feeder all winter?

No - stop feeding when the fish stop eating - around 50F water temp unless you have cool water fish like trout or YP etc