In the past I figured that the hatcheries would know best. Not always the case as I have learned here. Four years ago we added 10 -12 in. CC in October and they have done extremely well and we get up to 20 in. of ice. Most fish we have added sometimes take a while to go to pellets even if pellet trained. The next spring the CC were there to eat pellets and still do however they are very hard to catch on line. I have never returned one that I have caught. They are smarter than they look.