BarO, I believe I have some of the same class fish.
They are something else aren�t they?
I have ours in a � acre �grow/out pond with BG, and catch them on pellet flies to transfer to main pond. Blue gill are for forage only in this pond, and the HSB controls their numbers.
In our main 2 acre pond, we feed opposite to your natural forage/supplemental-feed program.
Our primary program is aggressive feeding of high protein AQMX 600 pellets, supplemented by natural forage.
Don�t know if this is the answer to your problem or not?
The claim that HSB are deep open water is only partially true.
Like all predators, they follow the food.
They do prefer deeper open water in hot and cold water extremes, and when suspended between feeding periods.
Hope this helps,
George
