During the warm months when I'm feeding Optimal I make my own pellet flies. All it takes is a pellet, a small piece of pantyhose material, and a few seconds to wrap the pellet and stick a hook through the pantyhose.
This time of year my pond is usually under ice. It's been on and off this year.
I'll toss a handful of pellets next time I'm out there. That gets their attention when the water's warm. It might work when the water's cold. Only one way to find out.
I'm in Cole County and did a little fishing in my pond off my dock yesterday. I caught a bucket of bluegill and tried to catch catfish using bluegill scraps to no avail. My catfish aren't even a year old in my pond yet but they got upwards of 17 in. last fall and the only way I caught them then was to mash up some of the feed into cloth and put a hook through it.
I like the pantyhose idea and will be trying that sometime as it warms. I am guessing it stays on the hook better? I had a hard time keeping the food in the cloth as the bluegill would pound it out in less than a minute.
