RE: Bug Zappers and free fish food.... My pond is located about 1/2 mile from the house so I do not have electrical power near it to run a bug zapper but I sure would if I could. I do have a 4 foot long zapper next to my barn and dog kennel and after seeing the amount of skeeters, moths, flies and other bugs on the ground below it I had a sheet metal tray made that hangs just below the zapper. Every day I empty the tray into a small pail and scatter the bugs off the end of my dock. The fish don't seem to mind that the bugs are not alive and kicking and they quickly scarf 'em down.
The amount of food in pounds is not great, but the smaller fish really go after them.
I also have several 16" X 16" square baskets made out of 1" wire mesh hanging on poles over the water on the back side of the pond. I take all the critters that just happen to die in my area (Woodchucks, Muskrats, Possums, Coons) cut 'em in half on a old oak stump with a machette and dump 'em in the baskets. After 3 or 4 days in June, July or August the flies have found 'em and laid their eggs and the maggots soon follow, falling thru the mesh openings to the waiting fish below. I keep a covered 5 gallon bucket in the back of my truck and have been known to pick up road kill until I fill an old freezer that I have in the barn. As soon as the weather warms up in the spring I'll start filling the baskets.
I know this method is not for everybody but it sure works for me.
Dan
