i feed them anything, the last batch i had i fed mostly Wardley floating cichlid pellets. as with all my fish, I try to feed a highly varied diet. My bass found cut raw chicken to be tasty. Earthworms are always a good choice. I also find the monkey-see-monkey-do to be effective. try keeping them with species that are easily trained or are already trained. my sunnys learned quick and the bass followed suit. if you want small ones and can legally collect, try spotlighting at night in late summer.
if you have never used spotlighting to collect, the principle is simple. At night the young come into the shallows to rest. Move slowly along the shore with a flashlight. This part takes a little practice in seeing the fish among the rocks. when you see a fish, just hold the light on him and slowly move a net to him. I always had more luck slowly bringing the net down in front of the fish and then quickly scooping everything in the path. It takes practice and develop your own technique. Ive used this method to stock my native tank with anything from sunnys and bass to perch and pickerel. Its a good way to get fish under 3"
