One thing I read, could have been here on PBF or another publication, was that if you wanted to grow big fish, feed in one spot. The dominant fish will hog the feed and get big. If you wanted more uniform growth, diversify feeding areas so the younger, smaller and more timid fish get some of the feed.
Don't know if this is true or not. Maybe one of the experts will chime in on feeding frequency, locations, spreading the feed vs concentrating, etc.
I have always hand fed, because I was just wanting a little better spawn from my initial stocking. Was not trying to grow trophy fish. So I spread the feed along the perimeter of the pond and tried to throw it from 1-5' deep. I also targeted some in the very shallow where I saw the very small fry feeding. They would peck at the pellets and eventually as they softened would consume them, if the larger fish did not find the feed first and eat it. I also fed a combo of floating and sinking, trying to make sure and only put the floating on the bank that would float it across the pong and not up onto the bank (we often have wind in Kansas).
Just what I did. Not saying it was the right thing or maybe the right thing for what I was trying to acomplish.
If you want growth of some of your more timid fish, might want to hand feed in some other spots different from where the feeder is throwing.
Hopefully experts will comment on feeding methods. I would like to know if what I am doing (or will start again this spring) is a poor way of doing it.
I guess my goal was to try and promote a more natural type of feeding environment with just a little suplementation to natural feed, rather than trying to grow big fish on pellets alone. This is likely to be a different goal than many that feed their fish.
Last edited by snrub; 02/22/14 09:43 AM.
