This is the longest the Tilapia in my ponds have survived in a winter. I still have some of the larger Tilapia surviving. A medium sized one that floated today is shown below.

Anyone still have surviving Tilapia in their ponds?

That's still a nice size Tilapia! What do you do with them after they die? Do you stock them every year to help with the pond?

Stucky76,

I think of Tilapia in three size classes....small 4 to 6 inch, medium 7 to 10 inches and large over 10 inches. The small Tilapia make tremendous bass forage and I almost never see one dieing because they are all consumed by the bass (which is exactly what I want).

I try to catch as many of the large Tilapia as I can for eating...but can't catch them all. Interestingly I almost never see a large Tilapia die either, although I'm sure they do so. It is the medium sized ones that seem to float in winter like the one in the picture. All floaters are rapidly consumed by Nature's clean-up crew and usually gone within a day.

Yes, I re-stock every year which may seem expensive but in terms of algae control, pond clean-up, and bass forage generated, they are far cheaper than any other alternative I have found. My cost averages about $70 per acre per year across the ponds.

Thanks for your interest.

Meadowlark I have read and followed your posts. Thanks for all the info. I am planning to put in a 1 acre pond this year and all your posts have been extremely helpful.

Right now I am helping my neighbor manage his 1 acre pond. He has stocked BC, Hybrid LMB, BG and RES. Been about 5 years and have been pulling out very, very nice crappie and keeping all the LMB that are sub 15". The last few years have seen larger LMB being caught. So I plan to stock some Tilapia for him when it warms up a bit. Hopefully that will improve predator sizes a bit more.

Does anyone have a good recommendation for a Central Texas supplier for Tilapia that is reasonably priced? I am in Austin

cudakilla,

Great handle! Ever catch a cuda on a fly rod? Man, that's something you will never forget....and may not want to repeat

I can give a strong recommendation for Kenneth Henneke in Halletsville (361-798-5934) for your Tilapia. The going rate is $10 per pound at all the places I am familiar with...but like everything else they may go up this year.

A word of caution on BC...assuming that is black crappie? A lot of people have tried them in 1 acre ponds and have failed. The crappie have an unpredictable spawn...some years very few, some years thousands and thousands of offspring. They often get overcrowded in small ponds and become stunted. Personally, I love crappie but would not stock them in any of my ponds because of the problems that most experience.

One thing about stocking Tilapia in a LMB pond...if the Tilapia are small (4 to 6 inches) they will be very vulnerable to LMB predation right off the bat before they ever get a chance to reproduce. To minimize this from happening, it is best to stock the Tilapia after the water temps are well into the upper 60's or lower 70's (even better). At lower temps the small Tilapia are lethargic and easy targets for LMB. You want the LMB to eat them, but not your "seed corn". Warmer water and larger Tilapia are better for ponds with large LMB.

GOOD LUCK.

A thought about tilapia in the neighbors pond. I think tilapia are a great tool. However, in a one acre pond, the LMB need to spend all of their time controlling the crappie. Once crappie enter the scene, lots of dynamics change and management gets pretty tough.

Some fish sellers tout the black crappie as having lower spawning rates than the white crappie. Actually, the spawning rates are the same. I believe it is about 22,000 eggs per female on each. Like Meadowlark says, the problem with crappie is their inconsistent spawning. One year, they may load the pond and the next year be a total bust at spawning time. Most State Wildlife Agencies recommend that they not be stocked in anything less than 25 acres. In a small pond, you should never return a crappie to the water.

My buddy Dave makes an excellent point. In a small pond with crappie, you really want the LMB to pound the crappie offspring...pound, pound, pound. If you introduce Tilapia into the mix, you may change the dynamics and divert the LMB to predation on the Tilapia. I know for a fact, from years of experience, LMB will divert to Tilapia over BG. When Tilapia are stocked in a standard LMB/BG pond, the numbers and size of BG increase...and that's generally a good thing in our Texas ponds. More forage equals larger and better LMB. The Tilapia effect allows you to take many more small BG into the winter for LMB forage giving you in effect year around forage, and year around growth of LMB. That's generally a good thing also, a very good thing.

That effect may very well work against you in a crappie pond, however, and enable crappie overpopulation to hasten and worsen. Something to think about before adding Tilapia to the mix in a crappie pond.

I have considered that the tilapia may take pressure off the crappie and adversely affect the seemingly obviously stable dynamics in that pond.

He has a very healthy LMB population. In one evening I can catch about at least 20 fish and they will be from 12-20 inches with good healthy color and form. I know there are larger LMB in there as I have lost quite a few using my ultralight. I have been taking out the smaller ones hoping that I can increase the overall size of the LMB. For some reason the fish in that pond are very, very tasty and do not exhibit that 'fishy' smell that you find with fish that I have caught from some other ponds.

All crappie go into the bucket. The ones that I have been catching are 90% over 12". Quite impressive really. Right now they are all full of eggs too, so it looks like we're facing one of those prolific spawn years.

He also has some seriously large bluegill in that pond as I've caught quite a few that are easily larger than the palm of my hand. I release them all despite the wifey's protests. I'll try and take some pics this weekend when I go do some more culling.

Thanks for the observations, recommendations and advice. And sorry if I 'jacked' this thread.

PS Meadowlark: No Cuda's on a Fly yet, but lot's of mahimahi.

I have a pond half covered with floating algae and leaf algae. Do I need to clean the pond before I add the Tilapia or will they take care of what is there? Appreciate the answer as you can tell I have a problem. Right now I have no fish in the pond but plan on stocking with catfish as it has been previously stocked with catfish.

gatorgar55,

Depends on how big of a hurry you are in. If you are willing to wait a bit, the Tilapia will generally take care of that problem. Wait until the water warms to the upper 60's and danger of freezes are past, then stock at 10 pounds per acre. Within a month you should see a difference and within a couple of months they should have it under control.

Next year and years thereafter that you stock Tilapia, you won't see any or very little algae.

If you want to go faster, I would treat the worst areas right now with something like Cutrine plus to knock some of the algae down. Then come in with the Tilapia after the water warms.

Without any LMB, you may experience a bunch of dead Tilapia this fall/winter, but that doesn't last long or cause any problems...unless perhaps the pond is in your front yard.

The catfish may help control the small Tilapia offspring some, but certainly not enough to make a major dent unless stocked heavily.