Stocking Tilapia or Carp

Just got the report from our fish management specialist yesterday for our 15 ac lake, and he said that we have too much vegetation, which is inhibiting our fish growth. Our lake has had bass around 7 years, and the largest fish caught is 4 lbs. that all being said, the man suggested we get grass carp for our lake. However, I was wondering if we could stock tilapia instead to help control our vegetation and wanted to see how many fish per ac to stock and appx how much it would cost annually (since they die every winter). Please let me know your thoughts or any resources you might have!

Tilapia are for FA control only. You need to stock 20 to 30 lbs per acre to stand a chance at treating moderate to heavy infestation of FA. If you have it under control, then a lower stocking rate might keep it under control. Expect to pay $9 to $12 a lb for tilapia. IMO, tilapia are over-hyped for FA control in larger ponds/lakes. In smaller ponds (3 acres and smaller) you might be able to afford it. But, it larger ponds it gets expensive fast.

You have to address why you have aquatic vegetation to begin with. Clear and shallow water.

Grass Carp might help with the other aquatic vegetation, but understanding what the vegetation is would help make recommendations. Expect to pay $12 to $15 for GC. Plus you will need a permit from the state. The permit cost $15 plus $2 a fish.

Too many issues to cover in a single post of the TFF. You paid a consultant. Lean in him to provide a detailed plan and cost.

Do both if you got the money.....otherwise do the carp.

But as mentioned, the thing to do is find out why the weeds are there. But to go along with that, what kind of weeds, other methods of control that may be appropriate, and preventive measures for next year.

Your consultant should be able to provide all that.

I love tilapia as a bass fishing management tool, but they really aren't all that good for weed control, especially in bigger ponds. They are very good forage for bass in some cases. However, I will only recommend tilapia for places that provide no thermal refuge for them so they die off in winter.

I feed about 125 acres of bass lakes 15K or so pounds of tilapia I raise on my own 5 acre hatchery on the facility.

Don't expect much out of the grass carp the first year. They really get effective when weeds start emerging in the Spring. But they need to be stocked now. If the pro recommended GC, I doubt that the problem is FA.

Ya, I'd definitely say our problem is more grass related. Our biggest issue is water clarity (way too clear) and having a board of people making the decisions, as well as limited funds. Talked to our biologist, and he's saying grass carp will take about a year to really take effect. Also, we're having problems with our bass biting already because they're mostly pure Florida's. I guess you can't have it all...

I believe I would go to the TAMU site and identify what kind of grass you have. Grass carp don't eat everything.

Apparently, we have southern naiad. The suggestion is to stock carp. Any other non-chemical suggestions?

I was gonna say that....Najas guadalupensis.

Grass carp work really good on that stuff. They love it and if you put enough of them they'll eat it all gone, every bit. Tilapia like it too, even mossambique tilapia like it.

Then if the water stays clear, some other weed they don't like will grow in its place.

Grass carp and tilapia is a very good answer for this problem.

You can rake the stuff out. Dye the pond dark blue, ugly but helps keep growth down by reducing sunlight penetration.

Now this is gonna seem weird, but I learned over the years that for Najas (Southern Naiad), you can stock koi, same fish as a common carp by species, but don't stock carp, it has to be koi, and they'll eat it all gone as well as grass carp would.

Just like grass carp, they may create new issues, unlike grass carp, koi are not sterile. Also unlike grass carp, they can be "bought off the shelf" wihtout any permits or licenses.

I foun d about ten to twenty adults per acre works well, llower amount for a pond with a soft mud bottom. If too small they will likely get eaten by bigger fish, so 12" is a minumum (for grass carp too). You can usually find some big ugly koi somewhere for cheap, or even free. Most big cities have a "koi rescue" and a koi club, somebody always has koi they want to "find a good hme for," and no home is better for a koi than a big ole "mud pond" (what koi people call a pond bigger than one in their backyard and has an earth bottom).

Common carp will not eat Najas and are much more likely to "take over" a small pond than koi, stay away from them. Goldfish won;t do any good either.

Fishbreeder, thanks for the insight. You make a good point about the other weeds growing up. If you have any other suggestions, please let me know!