I am in a similar situation as my FHM base will likely be all but gone next year. They have helped my HSB go from about 0.1 pound to 1.4 pounds since the late April stocking and the HBG that went in are now 3 times the weight. Optimal feeds have also been available once a day.
I have not seen any reports, but I have read that a fish is 90% water. That only leaves 10% for proteins, fats, etc.
Anyhow, I suspect my feed rates to increase as well. It seems logical that the fish will continue to desire the same calorie/day diet, but may actually be able to consume more calories per day due to the lack of water content in the feed compared to the water content of the FHM. I think of it this way...
Pellet Feed = More Taste, Less Filling!
Whereas the minnows are likely more filling because of the percentage of water that they are made of. The fish may actually grow more if I afford to put the feed to them.
Feeding this year has been pretty weak which has got to have something to do with the abundant presence of minnows and crawdads. Next year I expect the feed demand to skyrocket and the FHM presence to fall off even further. We will see!
