Do you fish with live Tilapia, if so you need to read TPWD fishing regulations pg 28 , General Prohibited Acts, para 4.
General Prohibited Acts
It is a violation to:
Fail to immediately remove the intestines from tilapia,

Go here.

Tilapia Rules

Gary

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Gary..that reg was written years ago to prevent the introduction of tilapia to other waters. That horse was let out of the barn years ago. They're everywhere...
Roger

I think that only applies to certain bodies of water also. Or Calaveras & Braunig have some kind of exemption because they are stocked in there?? I may be mistaken though.

Just wanted to point it out that it is still part of the regs.
Yes it is a stupid rule for Calaveras and Braunig., apparently it is not being enforced.
Gary

who cares..if i was you...i'd try and get out on the water more...not only do i fish with them, i catch them all the time and throw them back alive ..OH MY GOD

If the guy feels he wants to bring it up I dont see a problem. There are to many idiots out there that dont care about our lakes, ponds,etc. They need to be reminded not to introduce non native species just for there personal gain. Obviously it was not brought up enough thats why they are everywhere now.

Now if you want to see what happens when people empty their fish tanks in public waters. These plecostomus are everywhere in Calaveras & no way to get rid of them. Not good to eat & not even good for bait.
Roger

ROTFLMAO. I almost spit on my keyboard, laughed so hard. Good post!

So, they are everywhere, they are everywhere?

Are they in any non-power plant lakes? Are they in any water system that does not have a means of keeping water temps above 55 degrees?

Would anyone seriously argue for their removal from lakes like Fairfield where you can catch unbelievable sized blue gill and truely world class red fish? ...not to mention Tilapia themselves which many would argue are a better eating fish. Would you really destroy that fishery to remove the Tilapia?

Growing up with fish tanks, I always thought plecos were cool....until I started fishing Calaveras.

I catch them out of the lake and sell them here in Austin for 8-15 bucks a piece.. I think there the coolest fish in the lake pays for gas..I have a friend that runs a Koi pond landscaping thing and sells them with the ponds..

u catch em in austin???? if so, id like to catch some of those bad boys for all the water troughs, im sure they would do good at keepin it clean!

No at calaveras lake its full of them..

RedFishOn, I bet the fella you are sellin them things to loves you!!! I have seen 12" plecos go for 75-80 bucks at pet shops. Might want to think about jackin up your prices a lil.

Na he sells them for 12-20 bucks.. It pays for gas.. Sold 200 bucks worth awhile back..

sold??????? fish???????? commercial fishermen??????? sssssssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!