Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Feeding Feeding gills

I have some purina GFC and I started throwing it out today and there was no action and I know they won't catch on for a little while but how long does it usually take and these fish have never been pellet trained. Also is it very beneficial

Not sure where you at in NC, but I'm in the WS area, and my fish ,BG, and CC start feeding around April. I had some BG I put in from another pond that had never eat pellets, that joined the others feeding.

Hookedup, feeding your BG will provide benefits not limited to just the Bluegill themselves, since they are the primary source of forage in many ponds. Improve the forage base and the species that depend on that forage will reap the benefits also. I don't start feeding until the water temps get to around 55 degrees, although if there are a few nice days in a row I might toss a few handfulls out just to see if there are any takers.

If you're feed training new fish, try to stick to a routine. Feed at the same place, and at the same time every day. Only feed as much as the fish will consume in 10-15 minutes, less in the beginning until they get the hang of it.

You might also try hydrating the feed with water, to allow it to soften up. New fish seem to take to it better that way. Be patient and give it a couple of weeks.

I'm also starting to harvest my smaller bass in the pond as well and im trying to build a nice food chain for my LMB. Do you guys have any thoughts about stocking not many but just a few bluegill that are trained to eat pellets to kind of push my other gills into eating the feed. I love to fish and so does a lot of my family and this is basically a family pond and I want it to hold nice largemouth for my family to catch because I've caught big fish in my life and it's fun but I really like to see other people to catch big fish ( bigger than they have ever caught) especially from my pond. It just makes me proud to know that they have had a good experiance. I was also told I could use other fish as forage for bass and This pond is old the last thing that was done for it was it was dredged about 20 years ago and besides that nothing. I know fathead minnow would not suffice for these big bass but I'm also afraid of what another species may do to the pond. Any input is great and thank you all for the support

Your bluegill will catch on very quickly as long as there fed on a routine, sporadic feeding would be a waste.. Don't remove bass they control your bluegill #'s unless there trophy's.. Remove all bg under 7-8".. Is your goals BG or LMB?

I really want a nice LMB pond I have another pond I maintain tht I use for nice bluegill. I catch a lot of big gills out of. it was out of request for a close friend that I make it good for big bluegill an basically a lot of smaller bass an a decent amount of big bluegil, but those BG were already pellet trained and they caught onto my tactics the same day. I just would like to have trophy bass in this pond of mine.

My experience has been similar to sprkplug. My BG begin feeding when water temps are in the mid 50's. When water temps turn 60 it is like throwing a light switch. They put the feed bag on.

Check your water temps and hold off feeding until mid 50's - 60 degrees.

Discussions on this forum indicate that alhtough BG may eat in colder water temps, they won't digest the food efficiently.

I just listen to all the expert advice on here and wait until the water warms up.

They will start eating soon, mine have been eating all winter but there trained to eat it. The feed your using is good but i like it better in the warmer month, something like aquamax they seem to eat better when its cold. and it seems to last longer. Once yours are trained to a certine location they kinda hang there.