Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Feeding Time of Day

In my pond the BG eat very well 30 minutes before dark and the first 30 minutes of daylight each morning; however, if I try to feed them an hour or two before dark or after daylight I don't get much action. Is this common ?????

David, I only get to feed sporadically since I don't live on the land and don't have a feeder. I have no problem getting them to eat whenever I feed. However, this year they are starting slower than usual.

David,That's funny,My fish will not feed at the times yours are feeding.I set my feeder to go off at 8:30 (3 seconds),11:45(4 seconds) and 3:45(3 seconds)When i throw feed by hand in the early a.m. and when the sun gets low they will not feed very much at all.

David,
We have experimented with feeding schedules for our automatic feeder and the fish adjust in a hurry when we change settings.
The fish are swimming on the surface waiting for a meal very soon after we change schedule.
Doesn't seem to matter about the time of day.
Feeding bluegill, hybrid stripers and a few channels.
George Glazener

Lee, How big is your lake?
I am trying to get a handle on how nmuch feed/second I am feeding.
You are feeding a total 10 seconds per day with three feedings - how many pounds of feed/day, if I may ask?

My observation based on feeding my fish for about three years is that the "brightness" is the most important determining factor on feeding. During periods of very bright direct sun, the fish will not feed or feed very little and conversely during periods of low light and/or cloudy days, they will surface feed actively. Hence, I do not feed at all during direct sunlight hours. Just my experience.

Three small ponds. First pond has bluecat and an overpopulation of channels. The channels will feed pretty good at regular late morning feedings and blues sporatically. As soon as it gets a little hot (May) blues stop so I feed them at night and the closer to dark the better.
Second pond has hybrid stripers and channels. Stripers will feed some any time but better at regular morning and evening. Channels will come up in morning but won't show up at all if I feed too early in the evening.
Third pond has all kinds of fish and I feed them mid-morning but won't show up at other times (I rarely try at other times.)
I think a regular schedule is most important but for catfish, light has a lot to do with it.

george,i made a slight mistake on feeding.1st feeding 8:30 4 sec.,11:30 5 sec.,3:30 4 sec.not sure how much feed per second,i'm going threw about 75-80 pounds per month.i also hand feed in a different location every day at lunch time,i would guess i'm throwing about 1 1/2 pounds in this spot.my lake is 4 3/4 acres in size.i bought this feeder from greg grimes and he told me to feed 5-6 times a day in the spring and fall and 3-4 times a day in summer.i left my feeder on all winter,throwing 4 seconds at 1:00 in the evening.

george,how big is your lake and what amount are you feeding?

Lee – We are probably using the same feeder, if recommended by Greg Grimes.
A Stren ADF-75D does a very good job.

Our three year old pond is about 2+ acres, and feeding mature blue gill, a few channel catfish, and last fall’s 4-6 inch hybrid striper stockers. The problem is, we don’t know how to estimate how many pounds of fish we are feeding. I am guessing about 50+ lbs of fish?

The Purina Hybrid Striped Bass feeding chart calls for 2-3 lbs of Aquamax 500/100lbs of fish/day @ 65-75 degrees F.

We are currently feeding twice a day – 2 seconds at 7:00am and 2 seconds at 5:00pm, based on the recommended amount of feed the fish will eat in 15 minutes. It’s hard to estimate however, since the Stren feeder “shoots” the feed a good 50 ft, and the wind takes over.

Estimated amount of feed about 30-40 lbs/month.

Thanks for your help,
George Glazener

This is so weird to me. Thanks for the input, now I know that my situation is not normal and I will experiment some more.

What's normal? My fish feed like yours -- low light conditions -- as do others I know. Nothing to worry about.

George,Not sure about all the weights and pounds of fish.to be honest with you i thought we were just throwing enough food to keep fish around feeder,not really doing much for weight gain.now that i look at your feeded times maybe i'm doing more than i thought.i can tell you the 13 seconds total feed time does not take them much time to wipe feed out.my guess is within 6-7 minutes i have not feed left on the water.within the next day are so i will put a bag over the feeder and catch all the food it puts out in a 4 second time.then we can weigh amount of feed.i will post amount after i do this.in the mean time maybe someone allready knows this info. and can post for us.

I feed mine after the sun goes down behind the trees in the evening.

Bob

Lee and George, The Stren feeders fed diff amounts according to what size pellet and how much the feeder vibrates, and other factors. It is difficult to gage an amount from one place to the next. I simply say to throw enough (if you can afford it) that the food is gone in 15 mins or less.

In the peak of the summer bluegill do not feed well in the midday. Spring and Fall when temps are around 65-75 they should fed like crazy.

Lee you are getting weight gain not just getting them to hang around feeder. (ALso I think I never got paid for the Ray Scott video). Hope the pond is doing better.

George you should be able to gage the amount of food by simply seeing how long it takes to empty the hopper. better yet add 50 lbs to small amount of food in bottom of hopper. With a marker draw a line on the side of the hopper and see how long it takes to get back to the mark. Get it?

Thanks, Greg

mine like it early and late, i love watching them eat. good see greg back, been busy huh.