what do you feed fish?

[rockriver]

we have access to a small pond.
i started throwing catfish food trying to get the fish to eat. it took a while but now
they come eagerly..
i enjoy watching them, but also hopefully developing fatter fish and easier to obtain protein!
--
here's my question.

if i can't get a big bag of floating catfish food, what else will work?

what can i find in the woods, or what can i plant/harvest that i can use to attract and feed the fish.

most of what i see are bream. a few bass.

[Matt In Oklahoma]

grasshoppers on a real light line towards the top of water and the more they kick the better
Cicadas, locust or whatever you call them but they drown quick but the wing motion is awesome!
corn
superlight fly hooks on a peanut hull and drag it like a popper, they dont last long but work
learn to tie your own flys

[Grand58742]

From my understanding dry dog food works pretty well as fish food. Heard it someplace, but don't recall where. Never tried it myself

[WiseOwl]

From my understanding dry dog food works pretty well as fish food. Heard it someplace, but don't recall where. Never tried it myself

Them boys down near Lake Jackson feed them mudcats that cheap wal mart brand dog food in their ponds. Thought they were smoking crack the first time I saw them doing it. I bet they dig the gourmet snoody purina too.

Buddy of mine out in the sticks has a pond and they throw some of their veggie scraps in there. The weak stuff they find as they are picking the garden.

[rockriver]

great suggestions.
grasshoppers (on a hook!)
dog food. i'll bet that's a lot cheaper than "fish food" i'm going to try it.
we had a mexican dinner at church last night. i took some soft tortillas home and tried them. it took the fish a few minutes but they liked them.
i need to try that on one of mats hooks!

[610Alpha]

Other fish!!

My FIL has a pond that he had to restock recently due to snow/ice blocking out sun that it killed off a lot of the population. I was helping him research what to stock for the bass and pointed him towards shiners. If stocked properly they will be self-sustaining and yet feed the larger fish. I google what you can stock as feeder fish for catfish.

If there are bluegill or other small fish in there catch them and cut them in half and the cat's will eat them too plus it will draw in crawfish.

[slingshot]

I've been feeding dog food to my catfish for years. The fish thrive on it. I get the kind that will float so I can watch the cat compete for it. They put on a real show! I get the large chunky kind so the smaller perch can't steal it, but an old cat can suck it right up. Regular fish food is higher in protein, but it's smaller and the perch get in the act too much. I found dog food with the same protein content but at a much cheaper price, plus the kernels are larger.

I think feeding fish is therapeutic. When I'm in a bad mood, I get a bucket of dog food and ride my ATV down to the pond. The cat hear that ATV coming and the water starts boiling at the same spot where I feed them every time. I throw the dog food in a handful at a time and just sit there and watch the show. It's therapeutic I say.

I've been told to feed them at the same time every day and they'll be there waiting on you. I found that unnecessary. When they hear the ATV coming the water starts swarming with cat. They don't care what time it is, they only know it's "chow time!"