I thought that they tasted really good. I did not purge them, just rinsed the filets in cold water immediately after filleting. I wish I could of gotten more out of the pond, but I mis-judged the time line for getting them out. The week I caught the ones I ate was pretty cold and the water was in the mid to low 50's, but then the weather warmed back up for a week or so and I did not go back out to the pond. When I finally made it back, I seen all the tilapia floating near the banks. The funny thing is, all the dead tilapia were fairly large. I think the smallest dead one I found was about 4-6", but 90% were over 10".
bbjr, from all I've read on the subject, that sounds exactly how it should have happened. The smaller fish most likely became food for the LMB, CC, BG, and other predators present. The bigger ones that die will quickly become terrestrial wildlife food.
