cover straw on a couple inches on bottom and cover the dead stuff with a couple inches or so of straw as well. Flies with find their way to the fly buffet and stink will be less. I have advocated this for sometime to our fishing club and the response was if you feed the fish this way or with commercial food it would train them not to bite. The people in charge of this club are bat crap crazy. I am glad you are using a inexpensive way to feed fish naturally.
They never heard of grub imitators or Stubby Steve, I guess. My experience with feeding is that it tends to concentrate & stimulate the fish, as well as improve growth rates & spawning. All in all, a big plus for fishing!
