This leads to another question,
Do BG that eat pellets get out of size range for a predator fish to eat more quickly?
I’m 2 years in and the BG around my feeder look like frisbees 5” deep, 9.5” long, over 1# in weight (if you cut off the tail they would literally look like a circle)
That's a "it depends" answer. I've seen LMB eating 8.5" Bluegill, and the LMB were 5-6 pounds. One had 2 in it's gullet (2 tails seen).
If the predators aren't keeping pace with the prey, (and there is plenty of the correct sized prey in the pond), then look at the cover that the predators have in the pond to use. The predators may be expending too many calories swimming around looking for food or attempting to catch fish but missing due to not having the correct cover to ambush their prey from. That could be the reason why they are not growing as fast as they could be..
Proper size forage fish are needed as the predators grow larger. LMB stocked at 2"-3" can grow to 14"-15" and close to 3# in 6 months with the proper sized forage fish.and the proper cover in a pond. So, the predators should be able to grow fast enough to take advantage of the forage in the pond.
