Nature still amazes after many years : trained sunfish, bass and 5 turtles?

[skiptomylu]

"but maybe something better than bread?"

Wouldn't want to spoil them. As is my two dogs and I have to protect them from heron and an egret. Fish are easy prey for fish eating birds.

Very true! There is a guy that owns a lot of property on the lake a little South of me and his land has a few small ponds on it stocked with catfish and Huge Bluegill. He had to stop feeding the catfish during the day time because the Eagles around here learned of that and would sit on trees waiting for him to feed themes they could feast, lol! He started feeding them at night!

BTW, that's a beautiful pond you have there!

Skip

[BuckeyeCrappie]

Beautiful pond, thanks for sharing.

[Spoonminnow]

"that's a beautiful pond you have there!"

Thanks. I have no idea how many fish are in it, especially the number of fish hatched in the last 6 years. The pads are spreading to different areas which I suppose is good cover vs those fish eating birds. The stems go down 4' or more - too deep for bird feet to plant themselves. Right now there are two large pad beds in two corners. I haven't seen a cormorant in a year which is the worst fish predator in the local lakes I fish.

Today as usual: 2 doz. sunfish, 4 painted turtles and a largemouth bass(that watched) came within 15' to chow down on bits of bread. Man those fish are faaast!!
Here's a shot of the school waiting for handouts and one of the turtles:

[Ketchn]

might want to get a bag of cheap fish pellets ( if it exists anymore ) , it will tend to improve their overall health .
if it was my pond ONLY very young children would fish it .....just saying

[Spoonminnow]

Checked and found out pellets are more expensive than dry dog food. It's not as if their food supply has dried up but rather - bread is desert ! LOL Besides, I like seeing them smash heads on the surface to go after those little bits.

Gotta say though, the pumpkinseed always hangs out solo nearby before I start the daily bread routine and is the first to return after I rake out the surface gook.

[keeferfish]

[COLOR=#333333] "but maybe something better than bread?"

Cheap Dog food works great, same as fish food but cheaper. I use both.

If I feed for several days in a row the fish must actually feel my footsteps because as I walk to the pond you can see wakes headend to the spot I stand.

[Spoonminnow]

Dry dog food pellets would have to be mighty small to fit into their mouths plus either float or stay suspended long enough for them to attack competitively.

" fish must actually feel my footsteps because as I walk to the pond you can see wakes headend to the spot I stand."

As I said, the wakes start from across the pond as I walk down the hill. The turtles (unseen) hear the commotion and start making their way from different areas in the pond, popping their head up half way or so to make sure I haven't left.

[Ketchn]

white bread as most of you know is not good for you or animals or fish .
very little nutritional value and basically just sugar in ready to break down form .
of course just for fun and entertainment it should be fine .
but if you want the fish and turtles healthy something with a fair amount of protein is a better option .
most dog foods are relatively low in protein ,some of the dry cat foods are probably better
fish food of some sort is probably the best option .
there are brands out there that have really small pellets from what I remember when we raised fish .

[Spoonminnow]

Big question: will fish follow the pellets to the bottom and still feed?
second question: do I have to worry about diabetic fish?
I haven't heard of any studies done about the affects on fish fed bits of starch. Few of them get more than a few bits considering the 25 fish or so competition as well as the widespread cast in a large semi-circle. Of course
I wouldn't want any of them to become obese and form a double chin (or maybe I would...imagine catching a 2lb overweight sunfish!)

[keeferfish]

Most fish food is 20 to 30% protein

Orscheln's Farm and Home has a cheap dog food very small in size, floats and is 18% protein.