Pond Boss Forums Thread Like Summary - Can fed bass return to normal foraging ?

In years past the bass in my pond (1/2 acre) have always kept the BG and LMB fry trimmed down. Last winter I noticed an otter in the pond (who mysteriously disappeared the next day). I have no idea how long he had been in there. I have noticed the normal 15-20 twelve inch bass I had have been reduced to one and two little guys of about 6" except for a group of 6 bass (2-4 lbs) I have been feeding in the same spot for 2 years now.

So the problem is I have numerous large schools of small BG and LMB (1.5"- 3") swimming around that no one is eating ! The large bass I feed just swim in and out of one of these schools of fish and seem not interested one bit in consuming any of them.

So I am assuming my smaller bass used to keep the forage trimmed down and they disappeared due to the otter. Unless something starts consuming these fish I am going to have an unwanted population explosion. If I stop feeding the larger bass I have been feeding - will they start eating these schools of small fish ?

I have 30 LMB I moved indoors about july first last summer. These fish have survived and grown very well on nothing but pellets. A few weeks ago I was sorting out some minnows and found a few GSF about 1.5"-2", for grins I chucked them into that tank and 11 GSF disappeared in about 3 secs if that long.
You would have to breed that instinctive behavior completely out-if even possible- for them not to eat natural foods. I don't know of any research on that-never had a reason to look for it, but these fish have had nothing but pellets for 13 months yet instinctively attacked and ate those 11 GSF.
Just my experience.
EDIT: These were 3" fish when tanked, about a pound now.

Snipe,

That is an encouraging anecdote. I would just say that the pond situation is different in some respects. First the prey is accustomed to predation in the pond and are better able to evade predators. In a vat or aquaria, a predator can easily pin prey and in your case I imagine they readied themselves for a feeding as you approached and were moving towards the GSF even as they were falling to get to them first as they hit the water. For me, the question isn't whether fed fish will feed on natural foods. I think that is a given. What I have always wondered is whether the length of time LMB fed exclusively on feed leads to impairment as predators relative to LMB exclusively raised on forage. This question has come up before and I recall Eric mentioning that tests have resulted in both null results and also with results that suggest impairment. IIRC, he suggested it was worthwhile for aged fish to try to purchase fish that were exposed to prey in addition to the feeding. It would be great however if feeding made no difference or if its effects, if any, wore off within a short time span.

PondStar,

Just to reemphasize curtailment of feeding. There is a limit to how much a fish will feed. Just like us, they get satiated and aren't inclined to eat more when this happens. Curtailment of feeding could help you in two major ways. It would force the LMB get their needed rations from the crop of BG YOY and it may take the gas pedal off of the BG spawning.