Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Creating the food chain Supplemental Feeding vs Natural Predation

My water cleared up significantly the last few days, so I'm able to see what's milling around down there pretty well as the fish are feeding. I've got an abundance of fry and minnows from 1/2 - 2" as well as a very diverse mix of sizes all the way up to 7 inches of both BG and GSF. My three LMB are cruising the shallows but dont really act like they're hunting, tho I'm sure they're eating well as they are really healthy looking.

I've read that LMB will eat an average of 3-4 Fish a day, so that's twelve 2-4 inch BG/GSF every day.

I'm hoping the GSF/BG will help out keeping the smaller forage in check, but I'm wondering if supplemental feeding is reducing the number of casualties on the yungins.

Would I be better off cutting back, or even stopping the daily feed program so the larger fish will be forced to hunt?

It's obvious they like the pellets, but if I was being supplied my dinner without having to work for it, I'd be one lazy sucker too!!

How much are you feeding ? Fall is an important time to feed as fish get ready for winter.

Right now I'm feeding about a pound a day by hand (50/50 mix of Game Fish Chow and AM500). It's usually all gone in 15 minutes. The majority is in one area, but I do walk around the pond and throw a little in places I know they hang out. By the time I've made it around, the first feed is usually all gone and I throw what's left in the bowl.

It's usually pretty frantic at first in the main spot, then becomes more layed back. I'm hydrating the feed too, so it sinks faster and makes it easier for the smaller fish to break up. The sunfish get the better part of it.

I only see 5 or 6 BH and they're usually a little late to the party. I'm guessing at this, but there's probably 300 panfish (3-7") at the primary area, not to mention the GAMs and small fry up to 2", which are too numerous to try to even guess at numbers. Most are too small to tell if they're minnows or sunfish.

My main concern is come spring, when The LMB try to spawn, their egg/fry predation will be too great to get any kind of recruitment. I only need 5 or 6 to survive tho.

If there are just 3 LMB are you sure you have both male and female? Its not those 3 that you will manage its the offspring. A couple more LMB might be a good idea. Be sure you have at least 2 females.
You can keep feeding until the fish slow way down with eating (55F water temps +-).

I'm pretty sure at least one of the LMB is female. It was just slightly larger than the other two when stocked, but has grown considerably compared to the others. It's thicker bodied and looks to have added a couple inches in length since spring. Just guessing, but I'd say its close to 15" now. And it's much more aggressive when it comes to guarding it's hunting ground, not that that means much sex wise.

That being said, I'll probably try to get at least a couple or three more soon, just to improve the odds. But even if they all wind up being bucks, that'll still help improve crowd control. Been waiting on temps to cool a bit.

Is it safe to assume my feeding program isn't hindering the predation factor as it sits now?

Probably not unless your LMB are feed trained and eating pellets.

I've never seen them attempt to take feed (probably because it's so small) but do see them in the mix of sunfish nearly every day. As I said earlier, they're in pretty good shape.

You are on course. LMB likely not eating pellets - at least not enough to hamper things.

I wasn't too concerned about the LMB doing their jobs. My main concern was whether the other panfish were less likely to chase food if they were guaranteed a meal they didn't have to work for everyday.