Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Feeding Optimal vs Purina. Optimal for the Win

I switched from Purina MVP to Optimal Fish Food
Bluegill. Seen several studies where people said optimal was far superior. I truly didn’t believe it.
Absolutely no comparison on what the fish like better.
Texas Hunter feeder on 6 seconds. Fish would take close to 4 minutes to eat Purina. Optimal gone in less than 45 seconds. I am not a dealer or rep. Just relaying information.

Also watch for a noticeable improvement is growth rate of your bluegill. Look for the sizes of young of year and 2nd year BG in the fall to be larger.

Bill Cody. Can’t wait to see the growth! Thanks

Interesting results. I've fed with both, and the fish seemed to love both. Of course, most of my panfish are CNBG rather than BG, which may make a difference.

I wouldn't put too much stock in palatability. While it can induce greater consumption ... Few people feed to satiation.

The thing to remember is this. Palatability has very little to do with nutrition. Feed makers have been adding flavor enhancers for decades to make feed more palatable. Perhaps the food you have forsaken is more nutritious.

This is often the case with us humans. We are often induced to eat flavor enhanced foods that taste good but have very poor nutritional properties. Think chips, candy, pastries, etc.

Thank goodness there's always Slim Jims!

...and those pink/red Firecracker/Hot "Sausages" things made with mechanically separated chicken....

Ford vs Chevy

I pick Jeep. We have his and hers.

^^^ A jack under one and the 2nd one looks like it's piddling on the driveway it's so happy to see it's owner. LOL

The jack was from putting brand new rubbers on it. The puddle was she washing it. Also love the humor also love my resale value

Rusto, I couldn't believe how well they hold their value. The wife had been wanting to buy one for a long time just for a toy, so we did a few months ago and I couldn't believe how much a used one cost.

As for Optimal,.my fish seem to love it and do good on it but the only other thing I've tried is the cheap stuff.

Ok. I put the first bag of Optimal Bluegill feed in my feeder yesterday. The fish should start getting the Optimal as soon as the rest of the Sportsmen's Choice Floating Pond and Catfish food empties out of the bottom of the hopper. I did throw a couple of handfuls of the Optimal out after my feeder quit dispensing for the timed session (five seconds once per day at 4 p.m.). The fish jumped right on it. However, these fish seem to inhale the other stuff as well. I guess I don't have picky fish. I have ordered two bags of the Purina Aquamax Sportfish MVP. I figure as long as I am experimenting, I might as well give it a try to see what happens.

I do have a question. This pond is about 1.25 acres and is about 60 years old. I stocked it in October 2022 with 50 Channel Catfish, 1000 standard Bluegill, 200 LMB and about 15 pounds of Fathead minnows. I set a minnow trap and trapped quite a few fingerling Bluegill but no minnows. So, I am assuming the Bluegill are spawning and the Fatheads are long gone. Also, I caught a couple of LMB. They were about eight inches long and quite skinny. Could I have stocked too many LMB? Also, with the Bluegill spawning, why aren't the Bass getting fatter on the baby Bluegills? I am new to pond management. Any thoughts/advice? Thanks. Ken

Ken,

Was the pond barren when you started your stocking plan? That is probably unlikely for a 60 y.o. pond unless you deliberately drained the pond or did a fish kill.

If the pond already had bass, and/or other fish, your next step is probably to perform some good sampling and determine what is in there now.

You need to keep catch records (length and weight) of your bass and determine their Relative Weight. (Which is a measure of their health as a population.)

You also need to sample your BG. I would keep running your minnow traps, and perhaps consider a trap for slightly larger fish.

There are lots of experts on Pond Boss that can help you manage your populations once you have a decent idea of what is in your pond. You should probably start a new thread under the sub-forum "Evaluating and adjusting fish populations".

You might also read some of the threads in there that have a lot of responses. That will probably give you some good ideas for your pond.

Good luck getting those skinny bass up to healthy lunkers!

I fished the pond before we bought the property. As far as I could tell, there was nothing in the pond. The locals told me that it used to be a popular fishing hole when the previous owners had it. Also, I was told it held some really big bream. I believe it had been pretty much fished out. Thank you for your ideas. I will get some size/weight charts and start logging what I catch. Also, I will get some sort of larger trap to see what I can catch that way also. One good thing. The Channel Cats are growing nicely.