We stock tilapia in about 20 of our 45 ponds and lakes. Many of those are in and around east Texas and a few around the Canton area. We seldom stock 20 lbs to the acre, but more likely 10 lbs to the acre. I would love to stock 20 lbs to the acre, but when you are stocking 30 acre lakes; in can get expensive real quick. We see no difference in catch ability in lakes where this is the case. The severity of the FA will help determine how many to the acre you need to stock, but 5 to the acre is probably not going to put a dent in a pond, unless you have a pond that has very little FA to begin with. I think 20 lbs to the acre is a good amount. If the lake or pond is covered; 20 lbs to the acre may not cover it. I know some properties that stock 30 to 40 lbs the acre, but that is more for forage than FA control. I would start with 15 to 20 lbs and see how it does. Once you get it under control you maybe able to cut back to 10 to 15 an acre.
