On my 9 Ac pond in Chester SC - I am having great difficulty catching HSB as well as feed trained LMB!!! Lot's of Big fish that can't be caught especially HSB! These fish just love the fish food!

Pond is well managed with 2 aeration systems, 3 feeders feeding twice per day, semi-annual electro-fishing surveys, annual stocking with cray fish, tilapia, and TFS. Water quality great- BUT 150 to 200 HSB and LMB will blow up on one of my feeders and can only be caught on an imitation fish food fly. Fish all weigh 4 to 6 lbs.!BG have abandoned this feeder due to the quantity of large predators.


HSB will not respond to crank baits, swim baits, top water striper swipers, or numerous streamer flies. LMB will not hit any lure/fly at feeder -Except fish food fly-but behave very well at other areas.

Considering turning off feeders and/or starting an intermittent feeding schedule .

Frustrating raising Big Fish that can't be caught!

Advice and suggestions appreciated!

Al Allison
Chester. SC

1) Stop feeding for 2-3 days before fishing.

2) Use fishfood-ish baits such as Stubby Steve's, pellet flies, or (my most recent discovery for catching pellet pigs) Berkley Powereggs.

3) Chum with your regular fishfood.

Then decide how you want to hook them. I tried circle hooks, but have ended up using baitholders.

Good luck!

Thanks Theo,
Your suggestions have been used and do seem to work. Are you aware of ponds without feeders that support HSB? I have abundant TFS but HSB seem to only consume Fish Food and I will harvest/clean a few to observe stomach contents to confirm. Are you aware of others that have HSB that will hit artificial baits?
Al

I have HSB in the pond, and I feed, and I don't know of any species in the pond that doesn't eat the fish food, even the RES. I have caught every species of fish in the pond on artificial lures.

Al, I wasn't certain that you were actually complaining

Once a fish gets to be about 1 year old ... the phenomenal growth ends and reason settles in. Most fish just get a bite or two more than what it takes tread water. So in a pond where most fish are growing the need for maintenance is being met and the fish don't have to eat much if any more than they already are. They spend less time foraging because it is pretty easy to get the meals they need. I think this is true regardless of whether the pond is fed or not. IOWs abundant natural foods can cause fish to be difficult to catch.

Fish that are struggling to get their daily ration, particularly those that may not consume sufficient energy every day spend more time foraging. They are in the mood to eat more often and for longer periods of time making them more susceptible to angling. Its a difficult choice to make but the choice truly is between great growth and susceptibility to angling. I think that I would prefer to err on the side of better growth. I say this because if fish decline they are much more likely to experience mortality.

Were it me, I might try to feed the same quantity of feed each year but try to bunch the feed in peaks and troughs so that there are intervening periods where the fish are forced to forage longer to get their maintenance ration. You could custom design the lower feeding periods around your favorite or most convenient times for fishing. To optimize, a cycle timed to peak with the full moon and trough with the new moon "might" be ideal resulting in peaks of newly hatched lepomis forage matching peaks of feeding.

Al - consider turning off the feeders for 3 days before fishing. Also use the methods of some small forage fish as bait under a bobber near the feeding stations.
Have you ever made softened pliable or moldable fish food from your pellets by soaking it over night. . Small batches: one cup of pellets & approx. 2 tablespoons of water. Shake pellets and water for one full minute or until ALL water is absorbed and NO “gravy” remains. Pellets should be shaken once to three times within the next 20 to 30 minutes to keep individual pellets from sticking together. Later a little water sprayed on pellets may be needed. When done you want ALL pellets to have a very similar softness but definitely not mushy. When properly softened, the pellets with stick together and mold like damp clay or cookie dough while not sticking to your fingers. Soft pellets can be molded into any size of nuggets. Pellets on a hook last only for one bite from the fish. Usually I get about 50% hook up.

When you harvest some HSB would you please measure their length and mouth gape for us? Vertical gape is adequate and do not over stretch the mouth opening,,, just open it to a reasonable full size. Thanks for the extra efforts.

OR just give Stacy a call at https://www.stubbysteve.com/ 276-988-5874

Original pellet



Chubby Pellet



Every year I buy the original fish food pellets in brown. 6 packs will last the year.

If you wish to specifically target larger HSB and LMB, I find that large pellets, such as Optimal Handthrown, work well. Attach hook to chunk of food with rubber band. Awesome topwater strikes!