I was just at my female YP, male BG, female RES pond and spent the evening observing feeding. Since the weather and water are getting warm (water temp is 77 degrees) I've decreased the feeding schedule to one feeding at 8:45 pm for one second from the Sweeney feeder.
My big surprise over the last few weeks is that EVERY time I do this, the bluegill actually prefer to feed later than the YP. About ten minutes after the feeder goes off the YP are on a pretty good roll. Each feeding is fairly delicate. It's either a sip, or a subtle grab followed by a tail flip. The bluegill make a lot more noise, and start about 9:15. I think the YP back off a little as the bluegill make their charge. After the bluegill have had their fill, then the YP start up again, now even quieter. I'm assuming this is because they are partially full.
I have estimated the one second feeding to deliver about 700-800 pellets of the Aquamax Grower 600. Tonight I counted each individual surface disturbance and it turned out to be 695 separate feedings, which works out to be between 3 and 4 pellets per fish, assuming that all 200 fish are feeding.
I never thought I'd reach the point that I didn't care if I brought a fishing pole, but it never crossed my mind tonight.
What fun.
