Heterotrophic nanoflagellates are the main consumers of bacteria and picophytoplankton in the ocean. In their micro-scale world, viscosity impedes predator-prey contact, and the mechanisms that allow flagellates to daily clear a volume of water for prey corresponding to 10⁶ times their own volume is unclear. It is also unclear what limits the observed maximum ingestion rates of about 10⁴ bacterial prey per day. We used high-speed video-microscopy to describe feeding flows, flagellum kinematics, and prey searching, capture, and handling in four species with different foraging strategies. In three species, prey-handling times limit ingestion rates and account well for their reported maximum values. Similarly, observed feeding flows match reported clearance rates. Simple point-force models allowed us to estimate the forces required to generate the feeding flows, between 4-13 pN, and consistent with the force produced by the hairy (hispid) flagellum, as estimated using resistive force theory. Hispid flagella can produce a force that is much higher than the force produced by a naked flagellum with similar kinematics, and the hairy flagellum is therefore key to foraging in most nanoflagellates. Our findings provide a mechanistic underpinning of observed functional responses of prey ingestion rates in nanoflagellates.