I should have also added the word 'easily' to the subject line... I just acquired a very small pond that has nothing in it. I just introduced a handful of minnows. The pond is aoubt 1/8th acre and about 8 feet deep. It is in the Gulf coast of Texas area. Anyway, I am interested in stocking with Tilapia this coming spring. When next fall comes around and I want to harvest the Tilapia, how do I do that (easily). What equipment do you recommend?

thanx

I'm in my second season w/ Talapia.............if you've got them by themselves w/o a fish to compete for the bait it should be easy.........I use a #8 hook weight down w/ split shot under a float......use some power bait grubs that might closely resemble fish food in color and shape. I have to wait in the fall for cooler water temperture as the bluegill and catfish aren't so agressive and the Tilapia shy.

Thanx for the info LakeL. I am not planning on putting any other species in that little pond. I just want to harvest them rather than let them die off and feed racoons
does anyone have a link to a fish shocker? What is your opinion on them?

thanx

Robert,

Ditto LakeL.

Also, I'd offer you my brief experience from several years ago in a small pond (1/4 acre) stocked w/Tilapia and no predators. They multiplied like crazy, stunted, and when die-off happened, 3 to 5 inch Tilapia were stacked up along the shoreline everywhere. Without predation, they overpopulate quickly and produce staggering numbers of offspring.

However, if you are interested in growing them as a food item, you may want to consider a uni-sex approach like the commercial growers. Otherwise, you may end up with a pond full of 3 to 5 inch fish in the fall.

For a good discussion of pond culture of Tilapia and a uni-sex approach see the SRAC link below.

http://srac.tamu.edu/tmppdfs/9922301-280fs.pdf

If you are interested in reading about the experiment I mentioned above see this link:

http://www.meadowlarkponds.com/fish.htm

Good luck with them. They are really an interesting fish with great eating characteristics(as long as they are not eating algae themselves) and spectacular pond benefits, IMO.

I'd be real temped to add some LMB........say 25 at 6-8 inches to control the over population and allow some to grow to eating size.

Robert, I stocked about 20 male only tilapia in our 1/4 acre pond this spring, and I am looking forward to catching them this fall/early winter with fly tackle - if they survive this hot summer.

I feed high protein AQMX pellets in this pond and catch them on pellet flies.

Georg Glazener
N.E. Texas

George

They will survive the summer as long as you can keep water in the pond.

Robert:

Are you sure they will die off this winter? If you are close to the coast and far enough south they might not die off. If no predators fish them otherwise I would cast net them.

Again, thanks for all the info.

LakeL: will a small pond like that support 25 lmb? It is only about 1/8th acre. Just wondering.

george: Does Overton sell male only Tilapia? I did not see that in their price sheet on the web.

Texas715: I really don't know if they will die off this winter. Christmas of 2004 we got a little snow and built a small snowman. Christmas of 2005 it averaged about 70 degrees the whole week. Texas weather. My place is in Fort Bend county (southwest of Houston about 40 miles)

Robert, this spring Overton accommodated my request to purchse male only tilapia for our 1/4 acre pond.
I am sure if there is a market, he will service it?

Have you considedered stocking all female LMB in your pond? Todd has posted in regard to stocking all female LMB in small ponds.

Good luck with whatever options you choose

Robert....

ML is right about overpopulation and stunting without predators. I wouldn't stock LMB unless unisex stock. Hybrid stripers would be a good choice for a predator.

So you have two choices....

1)Stock all male tilapia...we can sex them for you at additional cost for time.

2)Stock mixed sex tilapia with predator of limited reproductive potential.

To harvest your tilapia you can...
1)catch them rod/reel as described above
2)trap them
3)rig a seine trap to catch large numbers in short time. For a seine trap you'll need at a 50 ft seine left in the pond...one end on the bank and one end in the pond at an angle towards the bank where you'll be harvesting. Pond corners and coves work very well for this. Tie a rope to the end of the seine and stake it at the bank. Then just feed the tilapia for an estended period of time in this seine trap and on the day that you intend to harvest (you'll need helpers) you should feed the tilapia in the trap and then close the open end of the seine by pulling in the rope. You'll get one or two shots during the summer at a successful seine trap. If you make a mistake those tilapia will have an advantage on the next try. And FYI, they are 10 times easier to catch when water temps dip in the late fall.

Your tilapia that far south have a good chance of surviving the winter.

What else....?

Call or email if you have questions.

thats why todd is the man!!! My pic of tilapia is one of todds babies grown up