Where to find bait fish for pond

There are fish hatcheries around that will bring you baitfish by the truck load. Flathead minnows, etc. Maybe try a place like this: Southern States Pond Stocking

Olle Time farm supply has a truck deliver every few months from hatchery…go ask them..you’ve gotta place order..

Buy minnows in bulk.

But if you live near a bayou or pond I have caught lots in a perch bait trap.

Would it be good to get an automatic feeder for my pond as well?

I would check out Dunns. I would also check out their bream and bass stocking.

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Would it be good to get an automatic feeder for my pond as well?

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Eventually yes, you want to feed the forage base, but you can end up with other issues (vegatation, algae die-offs leading to no oxygen, etc) if you jump right in to feeding before getting the population balanced out. Any pond in the south left to its own devices is going to be full of 8-9” bass, with a handful of larger bass, and mostly large bream because the small bass eat most of the bream spawn but can’t eat one over 2-3” long. You need to add cover around banks like laydowns to allow bream (and minnows) to get past the fry stage and aggressively remove bass small bass.

All this assumes your goal is to catch larger bass. If you just want a good bream pond, the steps would be different. You do prettymuch have to pick one, unfortunately.

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Hell, let me and my kid come fill up an ice chest one weekend.

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If it isn't too cold, I'm going to try and catch a mess this weekend and clean them.

A couple of weeks ago, I caught so many but didn't think about it at the time and just threw them back in. Was stupid to do that.

I've read about people sinking shipping pallets in their ponds to give cover to fathead minnows to spawn and create a reproducing population.

Regarding the feeding program, there is no downside unless you really really overdo it. You want really small pellets so all the bluegill, even the little ones, can eat it. Also a combination of floating and sinking pellets, to minimize what the waterfowl and turtles will consume on the surface. For a pond your size, it shouldn't cost too much money, other than the initial investment for the feeder. Or do it old school and just walk around every afternoon with a 5 gallon bucket and sling out a few stadium souvenier cups worth of food and watch the fish feed while you relax, sip beer, and appreciate God's creation in a moment of blissful peace and quiet.

Edit to add- you only need to feed in spring summer and fall. You get no benefit from feeding during the cold months because bluegill simply don't grow when it's cold.