Being the dope that I am, I went camping at Fairfield Lake this past weekend hoping for some good fishing. I didn't know until I got there that there was a fish kill, so then I had no idea of my chances for catching red drum for the first time. Had no luck at dusk so I went back out to a different spot at around 1am. No luck whatsoever.

Then, right in front of me in no more than 10 inches of water I see a long school of fish swim by. I watched for over 20 minutes; there was hundreds. I decided I'd try to rig something up to catch them since they had no interest in my shrimp. 10 minutes after the school had gone past, they turned around and came back the other way!

This time, along the shoreline right in front of me 100yds in each direction they swam up the muddy bottom until they were all flat on their sides, half out of the water (nearly beaching themselves in 2 inches of water). To me, they looked kind of like sunfish and I wanted a closer look so I threw out a net 3 times and caught 8-12 PER THROW. They were all about 12" long. No tail spot like red drums, and no gill spot like sunfish and way too big.

Not knowing what they were, I threw them all back in the water. After landing in the water, they would swim back up to shore. I had to make two trips to carry my things back to the campsite. By the time I was back, maybe 15 minutes later, they were ALL GONE. Not dead, swam away.

So, based on searches I think these were blue tilapia. Apparently they are an invasive species, but survive there well because of the power plant's high water temps.

Should I have caught and killed as many of these as I could per TPWD, or are they supposed to be there because maybe the power plant introduced them on purpose?

Has anybody else seen such bizarre behavior? I thought for sure that whatever the fish were, they must be dying and struggling to get oxygen after the fish kill; but then the whole school came off the beach and swam away. I swear I'm not crazy. All I had was a cell phone with no camera. My dog can vouch for me, he had fun chasing them along the shoreline as they would skitter by on their sides.

thats crazy

Laying eggs maybe ???
Roger

Keep and eat, they are great table fare, no limit and they are put there intentionally, I believe.

Never had tilapia, but I think I might go back there this weekend with a friend and a couple nets. If they are there again at the same place/time I could come home with a couple hundred pounds of fish!

I'm just worried about eating fish that may be stressed and dying.

I guess I don't like the idea of eating invasive fish, acting strange and swimming among dead fish in 90 degree water with no oxygen and living in the cooling reservoir of a nuclear power plant.

eating/looking for grass- or dying from lack of oxygen in the water. heard on lake conroe, the guys would mow thier yards and the grass clippings that landed in the lake would cause a feeding frenzy from tilapia.

MudBoat...one other thing regarding Tilapia. If you catch them to retain be sure and immediately remove their intestines. Failure to do so can result in a fine. This is to keep the species from populating other water bodies where they are unwanted. Do not get caught with a bunch of live tilapia in your boat.

DO NOT remove their head or their tail or otherwise clean the fish until you have properly landed them on shore for final processing.

Wow, thanks a ton for the responses! I read on the TPWD website about not cleaning until on shore, but I have no boat so I'll do it immediately.

Would I be at fault if I spent an hour catching them with nets and then clean them all at once?

Yes, technically you would be in violation of the law. If you'll gut all of the ones you catch per cast, before making another cast of the net, you should be fine. Just throw them on ice and finish cleaning later. They'll taste better anyway.

From TPWD's website it is a violation to....

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/publications/annual/fish/general_rules/
-Fail to immediately remove the intestines from tilapia, grass carp, or any other fish listed as harmful or potentially harmful, except on those waters where a valid Triploid Grass Carp Permit is in effect. Tilapia
Grass carp

In those waters, it is illegal to possess grass carp. Any grass carp caught must be immediately returned to the water unharmed. Please see our list of waters with Triploid Grass Carp Permits or call Texas Parks and Wildlife at 1-800-792-1112 (menu 4) or 1-512-389-4444.
TPWD's

living in the cooling reservoir of a nuclear power plant. Wrong lake that is Squaw Creek by Glen Rose

it's still a cooling lake. just for a coal fired rather than nuclear powered plant.

if the tilapia are stressed/dying from hot water, oxygen shortage, etc they are still fine to net and eat if they are still alive (don't eat any that are already dead, which hopefully goes without saying)In fact you would be doing everyone a favor catching as many as you want and removing them, since they are an invasive species and would overpopulate if not kept in check. Just follow the rules on gutting and cleaning them, and enjoy your catch...they are truly delicious, especially scaled, scored, salted, lightly dusted with flour, then fried whole... head, tail and all...aka mojarra frita! mmmmm!

if you accidentally drop a grass carp on its head very hard, and it dies after you put it so gently back in the water.. is that a crime?

Question for you Fairfield guys, I have only been to Fairfield once and I was amazed at the amount of bait fish small tilapia and shad that I was able to catch in my cast net from the shore. I would have a net full fish even if I threw a "taco". Are the bait fish always that abundant or was that just a good day? I am talking about the area where there is supposed to be a pier. I apologize for the hijack

I think it depends on if there is any criminal intent. Since you said accidentally, you might be in the clear. It's hard to kill a carp by dropping it on it's head. Even if you drop it hard and repeatedly. On accident.