Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Cecil...........

I think I read in another post where you were trying larger pellets with 50% protein. I was wanting to pick your brain on this subject.

Have you had any luck with the fish taking the larger pellets?
How large do you think is reasonable for LMB and HSB to eat? (obviously depends on the size of fish, but I was wanting your experiences with the pellets)
What are the negatives of 50% protein vs 32% or 42% besides cost?

The reason I am asking is because I have a pond I am putting HSB in and another pond that has some large catfish in it and was going to start some experimenting with feed pellet sizes. I have a friend who will try to make just about anything we want for feed so that we can experiement. (He has quite a bit of experience with making feed) I thought any advice you could give me would just help 'direct' my experimenting.

For largemouth bass Iam using the largest pellet I can find with no problems. But that feed company decided to get out of the fish feed business as they didn't get as much business as they wanted.

I am now using a 9.0 mm salmon or steelhead pellet from Nelson and Son Silver Cup in Utah, and a largemouth over 10 or 13 inches has no problem with that size pellet. Higher protein is best as it mimics the protein levels in natural feed and low carbohydrates are also important as too many carbohydrates can cause a condition in bass know as fatty liver or they can atually become diabetic.

Not sure about sizes for HSB as they have a smaller mouth than largemouths.

I would use an even larger pellet if I could find one as I think the largest bass I have get bored with even the 9 mm pellets, and it is not efficient when you consider how big their mouth is.

How big would you like to try? A friend and myself are experimenting some and would love some advice from a guy like yourself. I don't have any pellet trained LMB so I can't do it. Since it is getting cold my catfish have already slowed feeding.

He has 5 different formulas as of present to choose from and can make up to .75in diameter at this point. He can also have them cut at any length (making them cylindrical). I will see if he can email me the formulas and see if there is anything else that you think needs to be added or subtracted.

Thanks for the response.