Opinions on feeding fish.

[BioDiver]

Good question and good answers.

Fish are opportunistic feeders.  If there are divers feeding fish or another source of 'free food' available the fish are going to go for it.  I am sure that as soon as the divers are gone the fish revert back to their natural way of feeding.  The feeding drive is instinctual to them and divers feeding fish once in a while is not going to harm them long term.

However...  I do think that feeding fish 'natural' food is not really a great idea.  LKunze touched on this about seeing less crayfish in some of the Crosby pits.  What we (divers) are doing is effecting the most delicate level of the food chain by feeding fish these smaller prey organisms.  There is a reason the fish have to work hard to naturally catch a crayfish or why sunfish can no longer eat a snail that has grown too large.  It is natures way of keeping things balanced and divers are offsetting this balance by breaking snails and clams and by digging crayfish out of their hiding places.

Not to mention the fact that many mussel species are on the verge of becoming endangered in Minnesota.  I think the DNR would have a bigger problem with us breaking open and killing all of these Mollusca than simply feeding some fish when we dive.

I like the ideas of bringing things with you such as cut up worms, cut up bait (minnows) you can buy at bait shops, I don't even think corn is a problem.  Many fish eat seeds and other vegetative matterial and they eat much harder things than corn shells and they would have no problem passing such things.

Like anything else moderation is key.  Feeding fish every now and then is not a problem, feeding fish a bunch of food every time you dive is probably not the best approach.  Enjoy our fish in their natural state, you will be amazed at the things you will see them do to find and catch their own food.

[Appolion]

I was told some time ago that feeding whole corn to fish and other things not accustom to it could harm them. Corn's a seed and as such has a tough shell that doesn't digest easily.  Is this true, will it harm the fish?
[/quote]
I say corn because I grew up by a lake and when I didn't have time or money to go get bait, I used corn instead of worms. I caught just as much with that than with nightcrawlers. It isn't hard to go to the bait store on the way to the lake to get some nightcrawlers though. Do you guys & gals think we really dive enough and give fish food enough to change their behavior? In the land of 10,000 lakes (actually around 12K) I think a few divers feeding the fish once in awhile isn't a bad thing and certainly not enough to change their behavior. If anything, it would make them more friendly.

[DiverQueen]

When I did my check out dives on Square Lake last summer, our instructor taught us to pick up the walnut size snails and crack them open with a fist size rock.  It's a good exercise in getting new students to relax in the water and it was so much fun.  My instructor, Will Hastings and his daughter Samantha were killed in a car crash in Alexandria on August 8th.  I'm going to miss them!  Go feed some fish in their honor!

Also, reducing snail populations can reduce the outbreaks of swimmers itch because the snail is one host in it's lifecycle.

[Elkman]

That's what we did in that "Discover Scuba" class I took in Branson a few weeks ago.  I don't know if they were specifically doing this so we'd relax in the water, but it seems to have worked.  Besides, it was pretty entertaining.  (Except for when I hit my thumb instead of the mussel.  That wasn't entertaining.)

[Appolion]

That's what we did in that "Discover Scuba" class I took in Branson a few weeks ago.  I don't know if they were specifically doing this so we'd relax in the water, but it seems to have worked.  Besides, it was pretty entertaining.  (Except for when I hit my thumb instead of the mussel.  That wasn't entertaining.)
[/quote]
I don't know if i'd do that too much. Mussels are endangered. They are also one of the first aquatic species to die due to pollution. Hence the reason they are endangered. I think nightcrawlers would be a better food to bring with.

[jevans]

You could also try peas.  As it was mentioned earlier the sunfish will eat almost anything and they are easier to handle underwater.

[RogueDiver]

When I lived in Michigan, we used to dive the Giloba Quarry in NW Ohio .

There is no fishing allowed but the quarry is stocked with plenty of Trout and other fish (including some paddle fish but that is another story).

At the office they sell (or used to, haven't been there in a few years) zip lock bags with dog food. I don't know if it was good for the fish but they sure ate it up. Frankly, if you had dog food - or any fish food - you would attract a lot of attention. It actually was somewhat scarry for some, especially newer divers, as the swarm of fish could be quite disorienting.

Here is a picture from their website of what it usually looks like when you pull out some food at Gilboa.

[flyboy65]

Wow!  That's an awesome shot!

I remember snorkelling in Hanama Bay, Oahu Hawaii back when I was in the service.  The outfit that we went with gave us a couple of hot dog buns to feed the fish with.  Well, once the buns hit the water, the pretty much disintegrate, and it was such a flurry of activity, it totally freaked me out.  Never saw the fish eat, it was just a swarm! 

I remember one helluva sunburn, too...

[claystaineddiver]

Do not bring in sea food to feed the fish in our lakes. There are some really nasty fish diseases that can be introduced local waters by bringing in outside aquatic life. Fish in the environments these diseases come from have some immunity to them. But let them get to fish that have never been exposed and you can loose every thing in the waters. Tropical fish wholesalers have this problem and often pet shops to. A new species of wild caught fish that isn't isolated long enough or at all and suddenly everything they have in 100's of tanks are dieing. I'd hate to see some of the things that have gotten loose in the tropical fish business to get loose in our lakes. We'd be thinking zebra muscles were no problem at all.

[Floridays]

That is a great shot, but I have a better one of a diver trying to fight off a couple of Makos with a can of cheez whiz.
Anyone want to make an offer on a pair of slightly used Volos?