Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Creating the food chain Stocking new 5 acre pond in Mississippi

SE Pond Mgt is coming on 12/15 to stock my new pond in SW Mississippi with CNBG, redear sunfish.....or chinquapin as we call them, and fatheads. Their rep told me that there is no need to start feeding until spring, but I've seen other's on the PB forum state that they are feeding or have fed newly stocked bream in the fall and the bream are still eating.

Is it worth it to try feeding and see if they will eat? Any thoughts on this are much appreciated!

If your fish will eat, feeding won't hurt! It is the frequency of 2-5 daily feedings that bring the greatest benefit. If only hand feeding irregularly, it is more for our entertainment than any benefit the fish get.

Thanks for that info Rainman. I'm going to go ahead and install my 2 feeders and may throw some feed by hand for a while to see if they will eat or not. I didnt know about the frequency of daily feedings either, so when they do start eating, I will maintain those settings.

PS I wish MS allowed stocking of Tilapia!

Don't be stuck on one setting, or one feed time. Let the fish tell you what they want.

Feed what the fish will consume in 15 minutes. If there's still floating feed on the water, reduce the feed time, or numbers of feed times if the feeder is set on it's minimum time.

Fish will slow down in their feeding when the water is cold or too warm. Throwing the same amount of food at those times will result in wasted food, and the wasted food will probably contribute to excessive FA.

Thanks Esshup, makes complete sense.

Best to try and feed at the warmest time of the day in your location at this time of year. By hand and see if they eat.

Southeastern just stocked my new 2.75 acre pond in central MS with the same combination and I had the same question...so thanks for posting the question and thanks as well for the responses.

I am on the La and Texas border near Shreveport. As the crow flys not that far away. And after stocking late last November I was told to feed one time in the late afternoon, 1 second with the Texas Hunter feeder. My water temp has come up from 52 to 59 and so I am now feeding twice per day. The food seams to be all eaten up but they are not just tearing up the water, but they have taken more interest in the food. I hope this helps from my newbe experience.
Tracy

My experience from last year says that as the water warms, they will feed much more aggressively. Get up around 70 or 75 degrees and they will put on a show.

constant temps between 65 - 75 are ideal for BG growth and feeding. Do keep in mind the reduction in feeding during the spawn which also starts at that temp range.