I have been trying to feed our pond fish nearly every night getting them fat in preparation for winter. As the water temperature cools they will become more dormant and eat less.

It is pretty cool walking down to the pond in the evening.  The water is calm and still; a reflection of the sky.  Then either due to the vibrations of my footsteps and/or the 1st tiny plunks of fish food hitting the water, the calmness disappears.  V-shaped swells steam across the surface of the pond as the catfish come into eat. Reminders of the movie JAWS.

Unlike the bass, which exhibit a single rise, pluck and return to the depths, the catfish bulldoze along the surface of the water with their mouths wide open; cramming in as much food as possible.  In fact, I “lead” them across the pond by spreading a trail of food. We have about 20-25 monster catfish – in the 22-24″ range.

Even my supposedly vegan ‘grass’ carp is into the act, scooping up fish food.  He/she is now a big carp and I believe may have sworn off vegetables forever in exchange for this preferred meal.