Tilapia From Lewisville

My friend and I were walking a creek off Lewisville yesterday and he pulled in, what I initially thought was a large bluegill from a distance, until I got a closer look.

I have heard of them being caught on rare occasions but this was the first I had seen.

Fly-fishing, jigging or how? Hope you gutted it instead of CPR. Eat or use for bait.

It was caught while jigging for crappie. We did take it from the lake and ate it.

It actually looks like a bluegill to me, a very nice one!

The tilapia on Squaw Creek, a warm-water power plant lake, are blue tilapia, best adaptable of that group to water temps down to the mid-40s. Someone could drop tilapia into a creek or stream or the lake itself in Lewisville . . . but they shouldn't survive a normal winter.

Tilapia on Squaw Creek are often being caught well over 3 pounds.

Note the shape and size of its dorsal fin, the tail fin from photo of a blue tilapia from Squaw below.

Brad

That is definitely a tilapia. I'm glad you killed it. They definitely shouldn't be there.

Definitely a Tilapia. Doesn't surprise me that you caught it.. People let all kinds of fish go in the lakes around here.

I have seen plenty of them posted from waters in south Texas, was shocked to see that one could survive the waters further North.

It was probably released during the Spring/Summer. From what I understand, they can grow really fast. The water got into the 40s a couple of time last winter and it wouldn't have been able to survive that.

There are a couple of ponds/canals on the east side of the lake, in a housing area. They are FULL of tilapia!! If it ever flooded, water runs straight into the lake.

That up in Pecan (poo) creek? That background looks familiar

Yup! Good eye

You guys catch any crappie.

I could see them growing rapidly over a single year, then maybe surviving a mild winter. Eventually, no, they are tropical. My daughter and a neighbor had a private pond in Waxahachie and they could buy tilapia to wipe out vegetation. Voracious eaters, for sure. Then, they'd die.

Not a single one! Put a few miles on our legs and tried casting everything we had.

I have caught a lot of Tilapia this year while fishing for Bluegill. Caught all of them on live night crawlers. Good eating fish.