Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Feeding Feeding Trout Under Ice / Trout Eating Off Bottom

We had somewhat of a melt this week, and the snow on the pond was almost all melted. It got cold again, and the ice conditions were great today. I think without the snow the light penetrates much better.

I fed the fish yesterday and today 2 hours before I went fishing. I started fishing near the shore with trout food with no bites. I decided to switch to orange PowerBait, and the first bite came very quick. I brought in a 14"( male?) brown. I'm surprised they preferred the PowerBait over the trout food. Maybe the bright colour makes it attractive?

The fish looked very well fed to me, and I was amazed at the quantity of those aquatic isopods in its stomach. The stomach was absolutely packed with them. I've attached a few photos of the size of the bugs. Are these a good food source for trout? I was disappointed to see absolutely no trout food in the fish's stomach. This was surprising, since he was right in the area I was feeding and chumming while fishing.