My 9 ac pond and 2 1/2 ac pond in Chester SC are exceptionally managed. I have followed POND BOSS principals and engage many Pond Boss professionals and vendors in the pond management industry. Beautiful pond water and highly productive fishery with Northern LMB, F-1 LMB ,HSB ,Copper Nose BG, TFS, Tilapia and minimal Grass Carp. What could be wrong????

MY FISH ONLY WANT FISH FOOD!! Two AM feeds at 10 am and two PM feeds at 6 pm. Feeding Aquamax 600. The water explodes and LMB, HSB, and BG aggressively feeding. We are able to catch limited numbers of fish with artificial fish food flys and baits resembling fish food. Some BG can be caught on live worms. But catching LMB, HSB, and BG on any type of artificial lure has become very difficult. Plastics, spinner baits, crank baits, top water baits, etc. just not very effective.

Input as to improving this fishing concern will be appreciated. Should I feed every other week? or every other day? or what? Have others feeding their fish had this problem? How long can I stop feeding without harming the fish? Thanks to POND BOSS forum for providing this great resource.

Al Allison

I find that if I stop feeding for 2-3 days before I fish, catching fish on any bait is notably enhanced. You may need a different fasting period.

I also use George Glazener's "chum with feed pellets" method when fishing with pellet lures/baits.

Thanks Theo,

I have not tried periodically turning off the feeders and will proceed. I visit my farm 4 or 5 days per week and will be able to manually disconnect and reconnect the feeders by disconnecting a battery lead.

I have and additional question. If you disconnect the battery from the timer, how long will the timer hold its 'settings? I have one Sweeny Feeder and three Texas Hunter Feeders.

al allison:

Have you tried using a Stubby Steves Imitation fish food pellet as a "lure"? I don't have any problem catching fish on lures in my pond and I feed pellets 2x day. Maybe just cut back on the amount that is being fed but still feed every day? When my pond is full I have a 1 ac pond and I have the TH feeder set on 10 seconds twice a day.

I have tried Stubby Steve’s and they work OK but most other artificials are just ignored. In the past mostly BG congregated near the feeders - but this year many 3-5 lb LMB and HSB are dominant.
I plan on trying completely turning off feeders today for 3 days and see what occurs.

This is not a situation that I have encountered before. Thanks for your suggestion.