From my experience stocking 1000's of HSB all over, and from talking many times with Mike Friese, of Keo fish farm where the HSB we stock are produced, HSB "like" pellets, but LOVE natural forage! HSB have to be graded often to prevent losses to heavy cannibalizing. From all I've seen, like feed trained BG, SMB, or LMB, pellets only adds "extra" and more rapid growth in a "natural" setting where other forage is available. Under ice or not, pellets available or not, if another food is available, the HSB will eat just fine.
Like Bill Cody mentioned, he has had issues with survival in a cage....where "natural" forage is unavailable. The dangers of stocking in cold water are very similar to stocking fish in really hot weather....it's the stress of the stocking that can cause heavy mortality, not a diet change. It would take a few weeks for a 6" fish to die from starvation alone, even in a cage.
Winter and summer stockings require extra care to avoid stress. Sometimes, there is simply no way to avoid things that are stressful....Like a farm trying to seine up Crappie when air temperatures are over 68 degrees. The seining of 1000's of fish in that warmth will stress Crappie so badly, almost 100% mortality will occur. Yet if you can get a few at a time in a dip net, quickly get them into a holding tank, transport in cool water, temper/acclimate slowly, and quickly net them back into the pond, a few at a time, almost zero mortality will be seen in 100+ air temperatures.
Most farms won't stock fish ANY kind of fish in hot or cold weather, Todd Overton said in a thread here, he has no concerns at all doing summer stockings of LMB, I have no fear either, because we know how, and DO take the extra care needed to minimize stress.
Last edited by Rainman; 01/07/16 12:54 PM.
