There is some thinking out there that you should NOT feed warm and cool water fish in coldwater as it can be detrimental. The claim is they will still instinctively feed but the dry feed digests poorly due to slowed metabolism and digestion. It's said this may cause bloating issues or even decomposing feed in the gut. I can't substantiate it, but the koi folks are true believers and claim you can harm koi by feeding them in cold water. They even have a special feed they feed them coming out of winter.
I had a trout farmer tell me not to feed trout in water that has recently opened up from ice. Said I could kill the trout. That I am skeptical of.
I stop feeding my bluegill and yellow perch in temps under 50 F. unless I hydrate the feed.
I have noticed no such thing with Copper Nosed bluegill. When I see them hitting the top of the water catching minnows, I feed them. Not just a little either. 2 quart jars full at the time. Mine are tearing it up , late afternoon on calm water. The temp went down to 40 degrees last night. But I really don't know what my water temp is. Also I have been watching bass come in picking off some of the smaller bream. Now I have noticed that on some colder days that they will not frenzy as much. So I might throw out a couple hand fulls of feed just to see what they are doing. If they don't start going into a frenzy, I stop feeding after the first couple hand fulls.
My theory behind this is,,,,,if those fish are hungry, they ARE going to eat, even if the water is below 55 degrees.
