Feeding Recommendations
and Training Your Fish to Feed

Feeding your fish a commercial feed can give your fish twice as much growth per year as compared to not feeding.  We recommend feeding your fish 6 days a week with floating food (28%-32% protein) available at your local feed store

To train your fish to come to feed, use 1/2 cup of food per day for 6-7 days.  Feed the fish in the same location in the pond at the same time each day.  Do not worry if the fish do not appear.  The fish will be feeding actively by the end of this period.  After the initial period, feed the fish what they will eat in 15-20 minutes.

For ponds larger than 1/4 acre, we recommend using a feeding ring.  The feeding ring consists of a 30ft length of 2 inch black rolled plastic pipe with a connector to join the ends of the pipe together to form an airtight ring that will float on the surface of the water.

Place the ring in water which is at least 3 feet deep.  The ring will prevent the wind and wave action from dispersing the floating feed all over the pond.  If this interferes with your busy schedule, we have fish feeders that are reliable, convenient, and affordable.  See our Equipment page for more information.

In the spring, start feeding your fish lightly when the water temperatures reach 60 degrees and increase to a full feeding schedule when the water temperatures reach 65 degrees.

Discontinue feeding your fish in the fall when the fish fail to eat all the food offered for 3 days in a row or when temperatures fall below 60 degrees.  You may feed a sinking food at temperatures less than 60 degrees on the warmer days during the winter.

If you choose not to feed your fish, or when you stop feeding in the fall, we recommend that you stock extra bluegill and fathead minnows to help develop a forage base.