Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Feeding Feeding Poll: Handfed or Machinefed?

Do you feed your fish by hand or do you use an automatic feeder (or both)?

I feed by hand.

Hand, though sometimes I wish for a feeder.

Have a feeder, cause I don't live near my pond.

Hand I also am wishing for a feeder.

I will be using a feeder.

Automatic feeder - ponds located 40 miles from my house

Theo can we modify this question? I know this woudl be better information for me.

Hand or Feeder
If feeder what brand, do you like it, if not what complaints do you have?

BTW my answers
I feed by hand
employee feeds by hand
son feeds by hand
also have used:

aquapro "stren" many problems too numerous to list

Moultrie do not sell inexpensive models but metal feedcaster great for rpice, comes with remote activator tht is pretty cool, does not throw food as far as next two listed

Sweeney- good feeder good custoemr service, not too many sold had one issue, slightly more expensive than TX Hunter

TX Hunter- high quality excellent customer service, many sold thus far not a single complaint, not cheap but get what you pay for

Feeders and hand. Feeders mostly - hand feed for fun when there.

6 Aqua pro feeders. 5 have done very well no problems to mention over 5 years (1 had a bad timer which was replaced for free) - 1 feeder has a problem that I need to check on.

Handfeed the ponds at my house and texas hunter feeder on my 5 acre pond down the road.

In the interest of supporting our wonderful PBMag advertisers, please include feeder brand info.

Both.

Sweeny feeder. It just went out last month, battery or something so been hand feeding. Hand feeding really means big plastic McDonalds cups full of food.

American hunter deer feeder with modifications, 2 years works great.

1 Stren - good feeder still in service with occasional jams.
2 AquaPro - good performance with old model timers.
1 Texas Hunter - like the feed pattern - performance good so far.

Occasional hand feed for fun.

For the bluegill and catfish, my fish feeding season coincides nearly perfectly with daylight savings time. It is the highlight of my day to get home from work so I can visit and feed the various critters that make our place a home.

I'd use a feeder if I was an absentee owner -- but I'd still want to feed them when visiting.

For me, there is no better way of determining health and size of what is in my pond.

Also, with each passing year, more and more of my bass seem to join in the evening feeding ritual. I would estimate that about 1/3 of my bass between 8-15 inches came up to feed on pellets last season.

feed by hand

by hand

American Hunter with a modified digital timer under a 55 gallon barrel on a tripod over a submerged island. Guessed wrong on the max water height and had submereged electronics once. Never had a jam. It has an internal funnel and is set to feed 3 times per day for 16 seconds (about 1 pound). Solar battery charger and a skirt around the barrel to prevent the "sling" effect. and a 10' PVC "ring" to hold the feed over both deep and shallow areas.

Remington feeder. So far so good, with a new timer after the 1st one went out. Good for the money. 6 hrs. away from pond for now.
Feed 3 to 4 times daily during summer. BG have been feeding all winter. 1 time at 3pm. Today, I saw a real treat. about 1/2 hrs. after the BG fed, there was quite a commotion near the feeder pattern. I saw it from afar. I can only assume it was my 1st glimse of some of the 75 HSB that had herded up some BG or fatheads.
Plan on a 2nd feeder next month with larger 46% feed. I got real lucky and found a Burris mill(now Cargill) 20 miles down the road in Franklinton, La. 3/16 inch 46% for $22 with tax. I was paying 30 for 40% Rangen in Texas. I also enjoy hand feeding when around.

Feed by hand mostly but if I'm out of town I have a demand feeder. Not sure what brand. It works good for me because the fish vary so much in what they eat that I don't get the food waste that I would get with a automatic feeder. With demand feeder they just eat when they are hungry.

AquaPro and by hand. No major problems.

I feed AquaMax or Silver Cup via a Sweeney and an Aqua Pro feeder. I hand feed AquaMax Large Mouth. I have to say that I enjoy watching/feeding the fish almost as much as fishing for them. Anyone in the market for a feeder should consider buying the largest one they can afford, especially if you are an absentee land owner. It doesn't take long to blow through a couple hundred pounds of feed.
I also wanted to add that I bought the more expensive Sweeney feeder because my Aqua Pro feeder would occasionally "jam up". I have since learned that the the more expensive feeder will "jam up" as well UNLESS I take the time to service, ie. clean them about twice a year..........yea George, I know you have preached that sermon before! They have actually both been good feeders.

As for promoting PB magazine, I bought my Sweeney through Lusk and received a decent discount. I'm sure most of the vendors in the mag. would be able to do the same thing.

Eddie

AquaPro and throw a handful in every now and then. It'll be interesting to see what the fish do this year. I'm going to start a fish chart (size/weight), and switch the food from generic floating fish food ( the 1/8" pellets and the 1/4" floating catfish food)from Tractor Supply to Aquamax 500 or 600 depending on what gets eaten the most. I'll get a bag of each and see what size they perfer.

I purchased two Strens almost 4 years old. They were purchased thru a discounter which saved me lots of bucks. I probably received the heavier discount because this gentleman liked me. Honestly at this point I purchased them thru Greg at the regular price. Had battery problems at one time and they issued a different battery which solved the problems. Stren has backed their feeders very good. I use a smaller pellet and it does have a little dust so I must watch this or the feeder will get clogged.

hand feed.

Both. We use Sweeneys and hand-feed the Aquamax Largemouth.