Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Feeding feeding bluegill to bass by hand

I've got to where when I cut the tail fin off I cut all the way through the spine in the meat. I used to just cut the fin off so the fish would live till the LMB would find it. Now I cut it off in the meat so the fish will bleed out and die.

I probably would not do this if I did not have CC. But with the large CC in the pond, they make quick work of any fish that is disabled.

With the tail fin cut off in the meat the fish still swims away but severely disabled. When I do these off the dock if a LMB doesn't get it, the CC quickly do.

Scissors like Bill says.

Spent an hour yesterday hand feeding disabled 3" BG to my LMB.
I have about 8 bass that are large enough to eat 3" forage, ranging from 5 lbs to 1.5lb.

The interesting part is I'm seeing a pattern of behaviour from individual fish.
The largest one is very aggressive, grabbing the BG immediately.

One of the 2lb fish likes to follow the disabled BG, but not hit it- even though every opportunity is given.
Odd behaviour to watch.

Nothing scientific, just an observation and pattern that is definitely reoccurring.

For the record, my small bass population has an over abundance of forage.
The larger fish were bucket stocked last summer from my neighbors pond.
His pond has much more cover than mine, so the bass have had to adjust their hunting techniques to suit.

My larger females are almost always the most aggressive. I tend to throw the largest crippled CNBG out first, because I've had those larger LMB leave after one handout. The bigger the BG, the less competition for the larger fish also.

For those that are hand feeding crippled fish, think height as well as length when evaluating handouts. LMB's gape determines everything.

If I have a really large GSF or BG to dispose of I will also clip off the dorsal spines to make the fish easier to swallow and more vulnerable. With scissors it is a simple job.