Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Hook Shy Fish

First rule - its your pond so do what you want.

Second rule - every pond is different and so are the owner's goals and level of understanding , methods and ability to achieve the goals.

Here is an example. George feeds his entire pond to grow big CNBG to catch. It matters little if he has 5000 or 4000 large CNBG to fish for nor does it matter if he has tons of small 3-5 inch BG for forage. He is not to concerned if his CNBG produce the max # of offspring as forage for other fish. Its about a fair # getting really big and fat. If 20% of them get hook shy from pellet flies , new goop baits , crickets or worms it is no big deal. I feed a small part of the ponds (truly supplemental feeding) to improve the condition of a small % of the CNBG . I do this to increase the total poundage of BG for forage ,to improve fecundity of the BG (more babies) and to have a few to catch away from the feeders. Different goals , different methods , different results but still 2 happy pond owners. For my goals any reduction in BG feeding at the feeders would be unacceptable - so no fishing there except to create new fishermen who might otherwise give up. Also there is plenty of room for us to get away from the feeders and fish while George can't due to size.

The science is more and more compelling that poor catchability is a problem and that it makes a difference to the current fish and that they pass the trait to their offspring.