Perhaps your fish are gorging on the recently spawned YOY to the exclusion of anything else. If so, they will return to pellets when supply of forage diminishes.
There are days, like today, when they do feed a bit better, but still nowhere near the way they used to before I installed the aeration. Surface temps would be as high as 99*, and when I walked down to feed there would be a couple hundred fish patiently waiting near the bank, and would go crazy as soon as the first few pellets landed. Today has been the warmest we've seen in weeks. Also, being my fish are all native, I think they're more tollerant and apparently more active in warmer temps. As soon as I started dropping the surface temp with aeration, they slowed down on the pellets.
Since the installation, there are hardly a dozen waiting, and none of my bigger fish. When they do feed, its very lethargic, and mostly subsurface feeding. Being the only major ongoing change, I tend to think aeration has something to do with it. With my pond's size, I think it has a more profound impact on them.
That being said, they're definitely feeding heavier on forage tho, and I've got plenty of that to go around. More now with aeration than before.
Edit: I'm on straight AM500 now, and will keep throwing it as long as their at least remotely interested. Once this batch is gone tho, as long as I'm seeing good numbers of forage, I'll likely hold off feeding pellets till next spring.
