Spring is on its way in East Texas and the LMB know it. In my ponds, they have moved into 4 feet of water on the afternoon sun and are feeding aggressively. Caught them today along with CNBG and one Tilapia on small spinners....great pond fishing days aren't far away now!

Lots of difference in the banana belt and North Texas. Mine are still wearing longhandles.

This has, so far, been the mildest winter I can remember in East Texas. Some colder weather predicted in the next few days, however.

Hay prices have tumbled back to their old levels and I've seen the big round bales going for $15 to $20 in some places. Cost me more than that to grow it and bale it last year.

After about 7 years experience with Tilapia, this year is the longest they have survived in my ponds. I caught a nice one just yesterday. It is very possible that a few could survive a winter like this one.

Spring fishing isn't far away and I can't wait for it to come!

Caught a bunch of lmb's Monday on one of my ponds.Fishing from a canoe, I cast to several spots with no luck. I begin to troll and caught one about every 3 minutes. No biguns though. I need to do some pond managing but time and money are short around these here parts.

Roadtrip,

You're doing something very right if you can catch one every three minutes. That's outstanding.

My suggestion, to get a better size, would be to remove every LMB less than 12 inches at first, then after a season go up to less than 14 inches, and keep going until you get to where you want to be.

It hurts, at first, to remove those small LMB, but it really helps you grow larger fish and more of them....but that's only if you want to get them larger. IMO, catching small LMB every three minutes on light tackle is an absolute blast, no matter the size.

If you have multiple ponds, you might be able to relocate some of the bass too. Or even to a neighbor's / friend's pond.

You can move fish between private waters legally.

you sure it was a tilapia? they die off when the water gets below 65 degrees or so. at least thats been my experience in my buddy's pond. they stock 6 or 8 adults every spring, and by the winter, we have to clean his pond out with a net and flatbottom, because they all die off at once, and are prolific breeders.

Oh yes, it was Tilapia for sure....and they don't start dieing until water temps reach 55 degrees(not 65) with some surviving all the way down to 50 degrees. In a pond with 20 feet depths and springs like the one in which I caught the aforementioned Tilapia, it takes some mighty cool air temps to get the water down to below 55 degrees. Tilapia know how to find the warmest water in the pond. Their survival depends on it.

After about 8 years or so of studying these fish in my ponds, I have only seen one time when many died all at once. That was about 7 years ago in a shallow pond that did not contain any LMB or other predators to keep their numbers in check. A sudden prolonged cold front rapidly dropped temps in that shallow water and hundreds (thousands) died all at once. It wasn't a problem at all, however, because within a few short days they were all gone thanks to Nature's clean-up crew which included a pair of Bald Eagles. No smell or problem at all.

Tilapia have provided me many years of great LMB fishing, clean ponds, terrific eating, and fascinating adventures. I am thankful every day to live in this Great State which allows us pond owners the freedoms to have these wonderful fish in our ponds. Thank you Texas!!!

I visit my daughter in Terrell. i wouldnt mind helping relieving the over crowding in your ponds if you needing the help. I fish from the bank or from an inflatable pontoon. Hint Hint

I'm with you. While I have no pond of my own, I love reading Meadowlark's post about his ponds and keeping up with his website. I'm sure I'm not the only one to be jealous of the work he has done and what he has accomplished. Thanks for sharing, Meadowlark, and TFF PARTY AT YOUR PLACE!.

Brad,

Sincere thanks for your kind words. With almost 30,000 great members, a TFF party might put just a little too much fishing pressure on the ponds...but it would be fun!!

TFF is indeed by far the best place in Texas to talk fishing. Thanks.