Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Feeding First day of feeding..

Well got the feeder up and running.. While I was mounting it to the dock I threw a handful of am500 out to see what would happen.. Instantly the bluegill started hitting it. So I got my feeder set up then let it cycle a 2 second run time (1second is plenty for now lol) after it launched all that food out I was amazed at how many fish actual were taking pellets on the first ever feeding.. They weren't slamming it like I see them take bugs often in the late even but they were definately interested in the new food scource.. I have to say I think it's gonna work out good.. What's you guys thoughts on this? Pretty typical for first time I would say 75% of the food was still wasted. I'd just like to hear some feedback and thoughts from the pros lol..

Congratulations BGK. I would suspect that more will join the feast in time.

I'd set the feeder on the shortest time for about a week, then gradually increasing the feed time each week until it feeds the BGs all they can consume in about 15 minutes.

The fish are responding like crazy.. I'm kinda wondering though I have my feeder set to the lowest setting (1 second) it is dumping a crazy amount of food out in that amount of time and one second really seems like a long time. Anyone have similar issues?

My father just put his feeder up 2 days ago and turned it on for 1 second feeding at 10:00.

While they were there he ran a test, and can you believe it a fish came to eat.

My mother said look there on looks like a catfish; my dad says no that is a bass.

They waited a few minutes and there it was about a 3 pound CC feeding about 10 feet from the shore.

I told him we need to get them out ASAP if he wants his BG to eat.

We are still trying to figure out how old the CC are and if they are reproducing as they have not been stocked in probably 10-20 years, unless someone has been dumping fish in there, but it is hidden well and not too many people outside the 4 of us fish it.

Any ideas on the age of the CC?

Do you think they are reproducing?

The pond is full of LMB. The water is supper clear and you can see about 2-4 feet.

The CC can spawn but their offspring seldom survive predation.

Hmm?

Did I miss something

What kind of feeder, and what size are the pellets? I had those issues with my AquaPro and AM 500, but Greg sent me a reducer baffle and with a little bit of work with a step drill, it works perfectly with the 500. I remove the baffle when I feed AM 600. Before the baffle, I would throw 3# of AM500 on a 1 second setting.

Good point esshup. The size of the hole in the bottom of the feeder where the feed falls thru will have a part in determinine how much feed comes out. I have a Moultrie game feeder hanging off my dock. It would always clog up until I opened up the hole a little bit using a dremel. Now it throws the AM2000 just fine. If I were gonna use the AM500, I'd have to close up the hole a bit.

I've just got a small feeder -- the Moultrie Feedcaster that gets mounted to the bottom of a 5-gallon bucket. In the spring time, when I first start feeding, I cover more than half the drop hole with a thin piece of plastic sheet so that the feed can't drop out of the bucket as fast.

Now that the fish are feeding madly, one second with the hole unblocked, puts out about 3/4 pound of feed. Until the days starting getting shorter in September, I'll continue to feed for 1 second at 7:30 AM and 7:30 PM.

It's a fine line that you have to walk between making the hole small enough to work, and too small so the food bridges the hole and clogs. It's no fun thinking you got it right and then having to shovel out a 50# sack of food because the weight of food made it bridge....... Another 1/16" dia fixed the problem.

Calling Greg.. I need one of these asap.. . I got a feeling it's gonna dump about 50lbs in 2 weeks

A friend of mine just put one of these up about a month ago, and a few days back he went to check it and it had fallen into the water. Does anyone know if there is a chance it will still work or if you can get replacement parts for these feeders?

I am sure the control panel is shot but just wanted to know if anyone has had this problem before or was able to find a replacement control panel.

I watched the feeding frenzy again last night.. I'd have to say the fish are really starting to clean up every bit of food I'd say there eating 75-80% in 15-20 minutes.. With running the feeder once a day I think I'll get about 3 weeks maybe a month on a bag. So next month I think I'll go back to twice daily and load it with 2 bags monthly.. I'm not sure if this is possible but I'm already seeing the fish in the immediate area swolen fat and hard completely stuffed with pellets..