Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Creating the food chain Looks like North Central Texas Tilapia are done

Looks like my Tilapia Class of 2014 are headed towards the funeral home.

Soon the till-ops will have all moved on to the great pond of warm waters in the sky.

My neighbor that keeps an eye on the place told me this morning he is
starting to see a few dead tilapia washing up to shore.

I am going down to the property tomorrow and will take a look.

Tis the season....ender

I like that wreath!!!!!

Was it the multiple big bobbers?

this is my second year for tilapia, and i have never seen them floating... I assumed they just sunk down.

I also have never seen any of the winter trout dying, but i am very doubtful that they are still around.


drp

Most don't float. The smaller ones are picked off by predators as they die. Those that sink are generally eaten by other fish and turtles.

Those that do make it to the shore get taken care of by the clean up crew of coons, possums, buzzards, etc. A free meal is seldom passed up in the natural world. I once found the remains of a catfish 50 yards from the water.

Mark, condolences sent.

My water hit 40 degrees this week, so my Tilapia are toast also. We got 8 months out of them this year, and I'm happy with that.

No tilapia seen floating here.

Our die-off looks to have started around Monday. By Tuesday AM there were roughly 50 tilapia around the pond. Birds and predators working on them just not quite caught up yet. Will do it all over next year.

Yes this week the cold weather did'em in.

I have never really had a big tilapia "die-off" where you could see many.

This year I purchased more...so maybe that's why I am seeing more dead tilapia.

I saw several "suspended" in death. I thought for a second they
were alive, but they were just suspended dead in the cold water in a couple of coves.

I had 20 YOY blue tilapia in a cage this fall as temps dropped close to 45-46F. All died in two days. Three floated and the rest laid on the cage bottom.

Right on Dave! Reminds me of something that came to me a while ago when I had a GBH spear a fish too large for it to eat. I thought, "What a waste!" Then it dawned on me that it was only a waste from my selfish narrow minded perspective. That dead fish that was too large for the heron to swallow was now food for other creatures like turtles, scavenger fish, crows, opposums, buzzards, crayfish, leeches, snails, etc. it was also adding nitrogen to the food chain. Nothing goes to waste in nature.

Great attitude CB, personally I still hold onto yer attitude of SSS. Not literally but still get a bit upset when Ma Ma nature shows her power. Especially upset about buck deer wreaking revenge on my Blue Spruce.

Oh, forgot ta mention that next you'll be wearing a silk too too. I know and have acknowledged before that I can't spell.

Whatever you say Bob.

The wife and I were at Gordon Food Service in Ft. Wayne,Indiana one day and there was this guy in a Scottish kilt pushing a cart with his pregnant wife. Of course I open my big mouth and say,"Oh is this Sottish Highlands Day? I have a friend that is really into that." He replies, " No I just find the kilts very comfortable in hot weather and wear them all the time." By that time I was slinking away thinking I need to get away from this guy as quickly as possible!