Originally posted by LRunkle:
Thanks for all the replies. Cecil. I was especially interested in your observation that the trout prefer to feed at dusk. That has certainly been the case so far for me. I have been hand feeding every evening but nothing shows up at any other time of day if I feed. I also note that the trout seem to be wary of the dock I feed from and will tend to stay far away in open water in spite of my trying coax them closer by selective feed placement. Has anyone else observed this?
In the years I have been growing trout in an earthen pond they tend to be light shy and only come up in early morning and evening. However be aware that may have also been when you supplier fed them too, so they are conditioned to feed at those times. And most fish are "crepusular" which means they prefer to feed at low light periods. You could try feeding them just after first light also. You could forego feeding in the evenings to get them conditioned to the mornings if need be and then resume feeding in the evening and morning combined. However this is dependent on your water temps and if you water temp takes a nose dive into the 40's you may only want to feed once a day.
I now have a very undomesticated strain of Lake Nipigon strain brook trout (a lake even north of Lake Superior) that typically only feeds just before dark and even well after dark. At other times of day they pretty much stay at the bottom.
As far as staying out in open water that is typical too although you may be able to coax them closer to the pier by gradually feeding closer to the pier.
