Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Feeding Bluegill spit out Optimal

I have a small pond (0.2 ac) which I stocked in June of 2021 with BG, SMB, & CC. Last year I fed them with Sportsman's Choice food which was too big for the BG, but the CC loved it.

At the recommendation of several of the threads here on PB, I purchased a 40lb bag of Optimal bluegill food.

When I throw out this food, the BG come up and get the food in their mouths, but then they spit it back out. Any reason why they would do that??

Also, the CC are not at all interested in this Optimal BG food which seems odd.

Thanks

KY, I've seen bluegill be choosy before, but they eventually learn that they need to eat what feed is presented, and that can take varying amounts of time.

I also use this same Optimal feed, and I've found that pre-soaking the feed in water for about 5-10 minutes helps get more bluegill to take the feed and not spit it out.

Fish will often take food into their mouth, spit it out, and repeat until the food softens up some. This is more prominent when the pellet size is a bit big for the fish to swallow and/or the food is unfamiliar.

I bet your BG and CC will take to it real soon. If your BG are taking, spitting, taking, spitting, & loosing it...your CC may be getting it as it falls.