Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations FEED TRAINING BASS

HOW DO YOU FEED TRAIN BASS? THANKS

You generally don't. Unless you get them already trained from a hatchery, it usually doesn't work. I occasionally see a smaller bass taking pellets but it seldom happens more than once.

Graham:

I have 2-3 dozen LMB, sized 8" to perhaps 16", in a 1 acre pond that have feed trained themselves. The conditions under which this happened were:

1) bass crowded pond being managed for large BG,

2) diminishing forage bass for the bass, as GSH numbers were greatly reduced and BG population changed from many small BG to fewer larger BG, and

3) daily pellet feeding where I believe some hungry LMB found it was easier to eat pellets than to try and catch decreasing numbers of small forage fish after the same pellets.

Under these conditions over the past 2 years or so, a fraction of the LMB have learned to take pellets and do so daily.

Anyone who is interested in pellet trained LMB for the purpose of growing large bass would probably not be interested in trying to duplicate these conditions in order to attempt replication. OTOH if you are managing for large BG and this happens, it's kind of a neat sideline.

BTW Cody says LMB about 2"-3" is the optimum size to feed train, IIRC. See info from Joey's attempt, starting with fry here.

If you want larger bass to be feed trained, the quickest and easiest way is to stock one feed trained bass 8"-10" long for every LMB that you remove from your pond. Larger feed trained bass are available in TX.