I did get them to feed off the surface while the light was on but their feeding behavior was very different than when the light was off. When the light was on they would dart to surface from the bottom of the tank one at time, hit a pellet very hard, then turn around and head straight back to the bottom of the tank. They would frequntly splash water 5 or 6 feet and I occasionally got spashed in the face standing away from the tank. In contrast, when the bright light was off most of them would be near the surface taking turns sipping pellets off the surface.
I noticed a similar response with my redear also, both the ones in the cage and the ones that were in the pond. They would pop up to the surface, grab a pellet and dive back down. The bluegill I had in the cage next to the redear would line up at the surface waiting to be fed. They would follow me back and forth on the pier as I was feeding the rest of the fish in the other cages and the pond with their backs out of the water.
