Any you guys feed the bass in your ponds/lakes?

[HuntForHorns]

Any you guys buy crawfish or minnows/shiners every year/month to feed your bass? If so, what do you use?

Thanks

[Codypatt1]

Blue gill spawn multiple times throughout the year and provide a good food source for them. I also Add Tilapia every spring and they spawn multiple times throughout the summer, they keep your vegetation in check too.

[Antlers86]

We stock yearly with minnows, shad, tilapia, and perch/blue gill. Also feed Purina Aquamax 500 from late February through December depending on temps.

When I first started managing the ranch I laughed when I was told the bass eat floating fish food. Unbelievable when the feeder goes off and the water surface is covered in bass ranging from 1-10 pounds hammering the feed.

[CEO]

I feed the bluegill daily, put tilapia in a few weeks ago. That along with taking bass out has helped the whole food chain.

[RattlesnakeDan]

I have a friend that hangs road kill over his tank on a wire and when the maggots start dropping the fish start eating. Yummy.

[BradBryant1000]

I feed the bluegill daily, put tilapia in a few weeks ago. That along with taking bass out has helped the whole food chain.

On our place I think need to take some bass out. We're loaded up on them but if you catch a 5 pound one it's huge (for our pond). But we have lots and lots of bluegill and minnows so I know they have plenty to eat. I've put in a few hundred shiners this year. Not sure if the shiners will take but I hope they will.

As far as feeding the bass (or any other fish for that matter) I've never done that. I'll look into it.

[rut-ro]

Put minnows and perch in several times. Going to start feeding with a feeder as well.

[CEO]

On our place I think need to take some bass out. We're loaded up on them but if you catch a 5 pound one it's huge (for our pond). But we have lots and lots of bluegill and minnows so I know they have plenty to eat. I've put in a few hundred shiners this year. Not sure if the shiners will take but I hope they will.

As far as feeding the bass (or any other fish for that matter) I've never done that. I'll look into it.

The typical overcrowded bass pond you read/hear about will have (depending on acreage) a handful of bigger bass, but mostly stunted 12"-14". Some very large bluegill, but almost none in the younger age class due to the bass eating all of them before they have a chance to grow.

This was our exact situation. About the time I started trying to manage the bass a fungus hit the pond and wiped out quite a few fish, mostly bass from what I found. I was worried when it happened but looking back now it seems to have helped get everything back on track.

[Treeshark]

Blue gill spawn multiple times throughout the year and provide a good food source for them. I also Add Tilapia every spring and they spawn multiple times throughout the summer, they keep your vegetation in check too.

Do the talipia live year round in a pond? I need some vegetation control. I've thought about grass carp but too much red tape it seems.

[Neck]

We do fathead minnows as needed and 40% floating fish pellets daily.

[sailor]

mine come running...…...

[HuntForHorns]

Thanks for all the great info guys. I wasn't aware that the bluegill spawned multiple times per year. That helps.

[Codypatt1]

Do the talipia live year round in a pond? I need some vegetation control. I've thought about grass carp but too much red tape it seems.

No, they will die when water temp drops below 55ish. Have to stock them each year after it warms up. Stock around 10-15lbs per acre and make sure you get “bass proof” sizes if you have larger bass in your pond.

I also feed aqua max 500 year around, great fish food!

[unclefish]

In our subdivision lake the bass and catfish have been trained to eat Aquamax largemouth pellets. We also stocked tilapia 5-6 years ago and still have some in there that didn't die over the winters. We are in Katy and I guess it never got cold enough to kill them.

In our private lake I stocked golden shiners twice last year....the first time was 18K shiners the second time we stocked 25K. We also have a plethora of bluegill and green sunfish as well. We also took out ~600 bass last year as it was severely overcrowded .

[CEO]

mine come running...…...
[ATTACH]1001958[/ATTACH]

That water color is wild.