Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Feeding Feeding going into the winter

Central Kansas
Pond was stocked in a few stages September - November 2023
My fish eat Aquamax MVP + hand thrown 9.5mm pellets at night
Morning 7:15 and 7:25. 10 seconds each.
Noon 3 seconds ( they really aren’t interested at this time) more feeding the baby BG and FHM
Evening 7:10 and 7:20, 10 seconds each + 2.5# of hand throw
Very lightly stocked 4.5 acre pond
The fish clean up the morning and evening food in less than 2 minutes
Question is, coming into the fall and winter should I increase the feed times or let it be?
BG, SMB and LMB have a good shape and weight to them
Yes - most of my BG look like the photo. 7-7.5” and all over half a pound
HSB look good and are growing well but are under weight according to the RW chart
CC - haven’t been able to catch one in a month but were growing like weeds.
If there should be an increase in food, how much? I know the rule of thumb is what they can clean up in 5 minutes or 10 minutes. I really believe I would have to set the timer for a minute to make that work. Or is maybe some of this food just sinking and I don’t know it ?

I do NOT operate feeders at my ponds, but I believe most of the members reduce their food distribution going into winter.

I can't remember, do you live at your pond?

If so, I believe most of our feeding people closely monitor their fish feeding activity going into winter. As the activity slows, they gradually cut back on the feedings.

Hopefully, some of the experts from around your latitude can give you some more solid advice.




P.S. Your fish pics above look good to me. How old are the SMB and the HSB? They both look very healthy to me. Based on his stomach, I assume you caught that fat BG near the feeder. Finally, the head on your CC looks too small to my eye. I suspect that is a youngish catfish that is rapidly putting on weight due to your feeder.

Your fish all look good, so I would assume that your feed is getting to the targeted fish. As such, I wouldn't increase the amounts of feed at this time of year. However, I do believe we have at least a month of feed time left.

I might do a 15-20 minute time adjustment for the morning and evening feedings to account for a later sunrise and earlier sunset, every other week or so.

My pond is in my backyard
My feeding activity is strong, I assumed you would want to pack them full before they started slowing down for the winter, sounds like I’m backwards on that.
SMB stocked November’23 as 4” fish
HSB stocked September ‘23 as 6” fish
CC was stocked also September’23 as a 6” fish , the last one I caught in August was 2.7#


Sunil - I have moved the evening feeding up 20 minutes over the last Month, I need to do it again as it’s almost dark by time they last feed

Since you hand feed, you'll get to observe how much the fish consume as the water temperature drops. Decrease the amount you feed accordingly. "Feed what the fish will consume in 10 minutes" is a good rule of thumb.

In addition to eating less in colder water, their digestion process also slows. I feed smaller pellets when the water gets below 55 deg F, and cut the number of times per week that I feed. Some fish may continue to feed with water in the upper 40's, and you may want to throw a few pellets on warm sunny days in the Winter, for the fun of seeing if any fish show up to eat.

Good info, my main concern is the next day 30-45 day before the water temp gets too cold, currently 72*
These fish are currently cleaning up everything I can throw at an alarming rate

I don't think he means he's feeding by hand.

I think he means the feed called 'Hand Throw.'

Feeder goes off at 7:10, fish clean it up in under 2 minutes, at that point I hand throw additional pellets out. Feeder goes off a second time at 7:20, they clean it up quickly, I think throw the balance of what’s in my bucket. In total 2.5 add’l pounds. According to Texas Hunter, 10 seconds is approximately 2.0#, so the fish are getting a total of 6.5# every evening.
In total they are around the feeder approximately 15 minutes every evening but I am regulating that time by when the food gets distributed.
This all started after talking to a few people and was told BG don’t like to eat with LMB which don’t like to eat with HSB etc. So the bullies eat then the rest get their dinner. 🤷🏼‍♂️

My fault!! When I first read the post, what you clarified is how I read it. Then, when Theo made the comment about hand feeding, I thought I had misinterpreted it.

Guess I will just continue to do what I’m doing until they slow down. Put the timer and a top water lure to this situation tonight. Tried emulating floating food
10 seconds on the feeder - 2:12 to clean up.
At that point I hand threw out 1.25# of bigger food. 1:45 to clean up except around the dock. My BG do not like the bigger stuff.
2nd 10 second feeder throw. 3:05 til gone
2nd hand throw of 1.25# 2:30

Now for the up to date results of what is eating. I’m shocked for baby fish stocked 12 months ago
Threw a top water right into the feed.
Guess I know what’s feeding. These numbers are silly to me 😉

CC - 18.5” and 3.31 #
BG - 7.75” and .76 #
SMB - 12.25” and 1.32#

I’ve been following these fellow KS guys and need to give them real numbers to shoot for 😂😂

Excellent job JD, you're making this Oklahoma guy think I'm starving my fish

I'm only 5 miles from the KS line, and cross the line quite often, do I count as a Hybrid LOL

You are probably 45 minutes or less from me. Upon reading all these posts I’m the one that feels like
My forage base is on the low side. Probably why I’m over 200# a month on the supplemental feeding, trying to get these fish off to a good start and keep the pressure off the natural forage as long as possible

Challenge Accepted!



Great looking fish Jason!

FYI - see the upcoming PB mag issue on the need for fish to pack on extra weight in the Fall just before (month or so) water temps drop.

Because fish are cold blooded they have optimum growth temps in warm spring and early summer waters , then growth slows and can stop or even reverse in extremely hot summer temperatures. Then as the water starts to cool in Fall metabolism ramps back up as optimum temperatures occur again.

In order to maintain condition Largemouth Bass (and other fish) maximize caloric growth in the Fall, store visceral fat, and minimize active metabolic demands in preparation for Winter.

Now is a good time to take advantage of the fall feeding frenzy.

Perfect.
It was just brought to my attention that the way the Topic of my post read and the actual question itself in the body of the post were kind of confusing.
Was definitely implying, what should I do now (fall) as far as feeding so the fish stay fat during the winter
Tonight I increased everything 50% and going to leave it until the feeding slows.

That's a great nugget from ewest.