Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Feeding Do LMB need to be fed in the winter ?

1/2 acre pond - 11' max depth - water temp 44-47 degrees

Feed my LMB and a few spotted bass Purina Aquamax Sportfish 600 (floating pellets) from Spring to Late Fall. Only have one or two fish feeding now and so I usually just curtail feeding for the winter, but I recently saw an article somewhere that said just because they don't come to the surface to feed in the winter, they are still wanting to feed even though they are not coming to the floating food.

So wondering if I should be buying some sort of sinking food for winter feeding if the fish are still wanting to eat, but just not on the surface. I have always presumed they just went kind of dormant in the winter and did not feed.

Fish metabolism is directly related to temperature. They eat considerably less in winter.
I would be a bit concerned about adding more excess nutrients to the water body in the winter. Uneaten feed decomposes and will fire up as waters warm again in the spring.
Some of this depends on your existing live forage available such as BG. If BG are present, it's not a bad thing to let them crop them naturally through winter.

LMB metabolism drops by a factor of two for every 8 degrees F the water temperature drops. So compared to 80 degree water, their metabolism (energy consumption) is only 1/64 as much in 32 degree water.

IME, 32 degree water kills fish. Generally, fish seek the warmest water when there is ice cover. This is a little above 39 F unless the water is receiving additional cooling by aeration or something like that.

The energetics of LMB have been experimentally verified down to about 50 F. The energy consumption required to maintain weight at 50 F is about 1/5 that required at 80. Extrapolating, the energy consumption at 40F is about 1/10 the amount needed at 80 F.

Generally "IME" is used by people who actually have experience.

I'm recommending the same thing that Snipe is. Here in Northern Indiana there is no need to feed LMB during the winter, nor is there a "need" to feed other warm water fish. Now I will feed trout during the winter, but at a reduced rate vs. feeding trout in 50°F water temperature.