Pond Boss Forums Thread Like Summary - Goose Problem and Bluegill Spawn

2 totally unrelated questions for the experts out there:

1) 10 acre pond in central NC. Based on forum feedback I purchased a Texas Hunter feeder and installed it on my dock. The bluegill have responded very well and I am currently feeding 12 second cycles 3x per day (morning - noon - evening). The grass carp discovered the food source as well and definitely get their fair share - not sure I can do much about that. More recently the 6 geese that seem to have taken up residence have discovered the feeder and when it goes off they just go to town on the fish food. Im guessing they are getting as much as half of the feed before the fish can get any. FWIW I am feeding Purina Aquamax currently. So - other then the obvious answer (shooting them) - any ideas on how I might dissuade them from the free meal?

2) As we near the time when the bluegill typically start bedding here in my part of NC, it occurred to me that if they are increasingly getting conditioned to hanging out in the general area of the feeder - they might not go to their spawning areas which are in somewhat specific locations in different parts of the pond. Is this a concern? Does anybody recommend curtailing the feeding during spawning time so that the fish will concentrate on reproduction rather then easy meals at the feeder?

Thanks for any insights!

- Cullen

Cullen, I have geese issues as well. A few non-shooting strategies may help:

1. Shift some feeding to night, especially after midnight.

2. Feed smaller amounts, but more frequently. My experience is that the fish start feeding first, then the geese crash the party. Smaller amounts tilt the advantage to the fish, less left for the feathered thieves.

3. Search for sinking feeds.

4. If legal, addle the eggs. The only thing worse than six geese is twice that many!

Like you, I can't shoot the geese without causing a bear market in the domestic tranquility index, but these strategies seem to help. Best of luck!

Thanks for the great feedback! I am not particularly adverse to shooting the critters, but my wife and 3 year old son love watching the geese (he has actually named a couple of them) and I would not win any favor at home if they suddenly disappeared... I might try some loud noise deterrents and see if that helps - I just can't always be there when the feeder goes off. As far as dogs go, we actually have two labs. Unfortunately, they seem to like the geese as well - especially all of the snacks the geese leave for them in the back yard. When the dogs run out back after I let them out in the morning the geese don't even give them a second look and the dogs are just nose down snacking on goose turds in a matter of seconds.

Regarding the feed times - I am admittedly a total amateur at all of this. If 3 times a day for 12 seconds seems too long - what might be more appropriate? When the feeder goes off I would estimate I see the bream splashing on the food for about ten minutes at the current setting.

Five of the six goose eggs made it.

Then Daddy goose departed.

Now Momma goose has her hands full.

If you pair Pat's post and esshup's post, then you have a perfect Pond Boss "it depends" couplet regarding Canadian geese!

Aversion to killing geese, or aversion to shooting? I wouldn't be very accommodating to those feathered rats eating up my $$$