I too am new to pond management but I stocked my pond in 2002 with BG. I stocked in the fall and did nothing with food until spring. I started as soon as ice out by walking along the edge of the pond tossing in only a pinch at a time of small sinking feed. Didn't want to waste feed and pollute the pond. Eventually I saw fish going after the food. I took note of the 2 or 3 spots where I found the fish and kept putting food there one pinch at a time every day. As the days went on more fish congregated in these areas. Then I just kept this up for the first whole summer. Somewhat lengthy process. My fish started out at about 1.25 inch. By the end of the first summer they were about 2.5 inch. I know I never got food to all the fish since many of these small fish get lost in a relatively big pond with very irregular shape. I would only see 40 or 50 at once of the 1000 I stocked. The remaining fish must have had enough natural food to eat since by following spring I could find 2 to 3 inch fish all over. Feeding was easy after that, they seemed to learn from each other. I begain mixing the smallest floating food in with the sinking food until they figured how to get the floating stuff. Now I can throw floating food anywhere and they come from all over to get it. The floating food is nice cause you can see if they've eaten it all. My fish are now 9 inches long.

Gotta get back to fishin!