Tracy, I didn't. I really don't have a pond budget per se, but I dropped a ton on the floating dock, so I passed on fall tilapia and winter trout. No big projects scheduled, so I will do the fall tilapia again this year. CNBG recruitment really seemed to have popped this last spring, with tons of small CNBG hitting the feeders. I can't help but think the sacrificial fall tilapia were a big part of that.
I can't offer up any tilapia stocking numbers for you, but I did put around 400# in the big pond in 2016, so 35# to 40# per acre? The majority of those were grown out here, but I may not do that again. Right before I pulled our tilapia for the 2016 fall stocking, I was feeding 50# of Cargill every 3-4 days. I can buy a lot of tilapia, and save tons of effort, by just buying them instead.
Tracy, our ponds are very different, but here's my reasons for stocking forage the way I do. TFS? My water's not fertile enough to support them, and my big pond's froze over this morning, so I can't even get a surface temp. Either scenario means an annual restocking. GSH? Although I want them badly, they're egg eaters, and CNBG recruitment is still my main priority. GSH have the "potential" to affect that, so I'll wait until electroshocking, and personal observation, show that my CNBG base is rock solid. Having said all that, I always come back to tilapia as the best supplemental forage option for me. Best bang for the buck as Todd calls it.
