Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Creating the food chain Hybrid BG nor minnows near shoreline but are deep

My neighbor had a 12 foot deep 3/4 acre pond built 2 years ago here in south Louisiana and stocked with HBG and minnows once the water was filled. He was told by supplier to wait a year before adding LMB. After a week the minnows and HBG were along the sides and the HBG were nibbling at the pellets and never stopped.

In August of last year South Louisiana had its 500 year flood with 30 inches of rain in 2 days. The pond was overtaken by about 3 feet of flood water. Trash fish yellow cats and shad overtook the pond. Following instructions of fish supplier we drained the pond to about 2 feet and put 500 pounds of powdered lime we mixed in water to kill everything. This succeeded and the all the fish were removed once they floated.

Refilled pond, which took 2 weeks, and checked ph which was at 8. Neighbor repurchased HBG and minnows 4 weeks ago and put in pond. Since then there has been no activity along banks no minnows nor HBG although there are plenty types of food to eat, spiders, tadpoles, water bugs, etc. He has tried the pellets again and nothing going after them but a few rainbow head turtles. His supplier told him they probably haven't "come up" yet. So I tried a minnow cage with bread about 2 feet, then 4 feet and finally at about 8 or 9 feet I found some HBG.

My question is should they have not began eating or foraging around the edges and eating the pellets like the first time he put some in, especially the minnows along edge?
What can we do to get them to "move up"?

They were put in the first and second time at the same time of year. Water is relatively clear with occasional algae blooms.

Consistent feeding is important. Not necessarily volume, but same place, same time. This time of year, in water temps above 83 degrees, fish tend to be more sluggish. It will take some time for them to find the fish food. And, depending on the numbers of fish stocked, they be able to feed at depth and do fine on natural food for awhile.

Thank you for responding I will make sure they repeatedly feed everyday at same time, we created a feeding ring for them as instructed by the supplier and yes water temps are pretty hot