I have an acre pond...I use to feed the bluegills ever once in awhile.....but should I start feeding them everyday so the get bigger and then my bass eat them and get bigger.....if so what should I feed em? thanx

you might be able to get them to start feeding on floating dog food i know trout and crappie love it.

Regarding this post, as well as your Minnow reproduction post, you might want to check out some of the rersources on this site, having to do with Ray Scott and "Pond Boss". http://bassresource.com/fish_biology/selective_harvest_bass.html

I think you might find that in many situations, the fertilizing of your pond, might be as beneficial, or more so, than actually feeding it.

Peace,

Fish

thanx floridabassboy and fish chris that info helped.....I asked 2 old time fisher men thats live near me today and one said he feeds his breed and the other said he feeds his dog food.....so im gonna do both

Believe it or not, there is a purina game fish chow. They look like puppy chow and the bluegill love them. We feed these fish in our pond. Fish chow for the gills and crappie, and minnows for the bass.

you know if they would sell that at tractor supply?

Seems like cat food would work.  Has fish product in it  

Skip a step and start doing it like California and just feed the bass some trout a couple times a month.

(Sorry CaptCali,....couldn't resist. )

Just to reiterate.... I worked at a fish farm in Southern Arkansas, where we took care of hundreds of acres worth, of small, 1/2 to 2 acre ponds.

We fed a few of these ponds.... sometimes. But we "fertilized all of them" on a set schedule ! And believe me, on a fish farm, nothing is more important that maximum growth.

Fish

What do you guys mean "fertilize" them?  What do they use exactly?  What "fertilizes" water?

In my fish tank, whenever I have had to start a new tank, with new water, aside from the conditioners,etc, a biologist at URI gave me some stuff called "Biozyme".  As I understand it, this stuff accelerates the growth of organisms to help establish a biosystem in the water quicker.

Similar?

when i go up to north carolina every summer i fly fish in a pond were the  trout are fed dog food and a guide gave me a fly that was made to look like purena trout chow and it works great if you go the soft dod food you could even put a hook in it and fish i caught tons of trought like that.

What do you guys mean "fertilize" them?  What do they use exactly?  What "fertilizes" water?

10 bassfisherman and a keg of beer.  

hey LBH and Okeechobee_Cracker read this. http://www.hffinc.com/PondFertilization.htm

I recommend ORGANIC Alfalfa meal or pellets to fertilize the pond. It will establish

the phytoplanton and zooplankton that larval fish feed on. The larger bluegill diet

primarily consists of insects.

One of the BEST PRODUCTS for growth, excellent water quality,and immune system support

is TerraPond. It is an organic high mineral clay from the Salton Sea in California. There are

several natural clays on the market, but the clay found around the Salton Sea superior in

mineral nutrients. I personally ingest the human grade form of the clay for immune support.

The website is, www.terrapond.com/about.htm

Hope this info helps!