Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Texas Tilapia probably checking out pretty soon

Forecast around the DFW area is lows in the mid 30s and highs in the mid 40s untill saturday atleast.

My surface water temp here in Ennis, if my gauge is right, is reading around 52 degrees.

Tilapia were fine about 2 days ago. There are a lot of waves now with the N wind so I can't see anything now.

I know the tilapia die around 55 I guess but does the larger ones sink or float up to the edges after while?

Anyone else here in Tx have a water temp reading or seeing any Tilapia?

Some float many sink and many are consumed by LMB well before they reach their lower lethal limit. I am surprised they lasted this long. When temps get to 65 they start to really slow metabolic functions and then they start the death spiral.

water temp here in alabama was 52 on monday.. i still have seen nothing of my tilapia. my friend that stocked his pond the same day, same supplier as me caught one on a worm weekend before last.. i thought when we bought them, people said when it got cooler we could see them swimming around slowly and we could scoop them up...we were all hoping for a big fish fry.. seems like now we are waiting for the dead ones to float to the top!!!

I've got/had some mixed breeds and saw them swimming around when the water temp was 55. Didn't see any dead ones until the water temp got down to 50. Then they all died Saw a couple hundred floaters.

My blues in Alabama are still to fiesty to seine at 56*. Getting less than 5% in a pass. They either jump the nets or burrow into the mud. I hate tilapia seining!!!!

Scott, your tilapia are probably in warmer, deeper waters. The can survive in .03 mg/l oxygen.

My pond is south of San Antonio. I don't have a temp reading for the pond. I was seeing our tilapia all summer in the shallow areas, but I have not seen them for several weeks now.

I put one tilapia in a water trough to keep it clean. The temp got down to 52 degrees last weekend. He was sluggish, but seemed fine. He was active during the day as the temp warmed up.
I don't expect him to make it through this cold front, but I don't know what to expect from the fish in the pond. This is my first full year with the pond, and I understand that some on this board have had tilapia over winter in my area. Time will tell.

Yes check out the posts by Texas 715 on your area winter survival.

The best part is, in a few months we get a whole new batch!

I think mine are just now kick'en off. I have numerous ponds with them including my two main bass growout ponds. One of those shows no signs. The other had about 25 water-turkey's on it. I ran them off and drove up to see about a dozen dead tilapia floating and 1 of my prize grown Florida bass. Alright, look I don't mind them eating up the dead Tilapia, but they crossed the line with the bass. I will be taking "preventative measures" tomorrow. LOL

I saw numerous dead or dieing tilapia today all around my pond. Some were not moving but if you picked them up they would slowly wiggle a bit. This was probably their last day this year.

i havent seen the first sign of my tilapia..does your pond have deep water? is it ok to eat them when they are near death like that?

I would think it would be ok to eat them if they are still alive.

Agree. Many members have harvested tilaipa slowed down by cold water before they die.

IIRC, cold water slows and kills tilapia not due to disease, but by shutting down biological processes.

Great reports, guys!

I'm still working on a couple of state legislators to see if I can get them interested in making tilapia legal for pond stocking in Georgia.

There seems to be 2 areas of resistance on this:
1) the Georgia catfish farming lobby - they don't want the competition;
2) the extreme southern end of the state doesn't usually get cold enough to kill them off so there is a legitimate concern about introducing non-native species

Also, there are probably only a few hundred of us in the whole state who are interested in tilapia so, it's hard to get anybody at the capital excited about helping with this.

Good luck Al. MS is in the same situation as GA. No chance here last I checked.

My uncle loves to go and fish at Falcon on the Mexico border. He told me a recent tournament had a five fish limit weighing over fifty pounds which was a new record. These giant bass get this way due to the large numbers of tilapia. Even with commercial fishing on the Mexico side it doesn't put a dent in their numbers.

Thanks Ewest! I was beginning to wonder if it was only Georgia.

Anyway, I'm all in favor of trying to control non-native species (coming from a state that is almost completely covered in kudzu and chinese privet) and I understand how state laws have to apply to the whole state. Mississippi would be in the same situation as Georgia - the tilipia wouldn't pose a threat in the northern part of the state but could go wild in the extreme southern end due to the extremely mild winter weather.

A number of years ago tilapia were raised in south MS in a commercial setting. A few escaped in a flood event to a river some miles away . They survived for a couple years but then were either eaten or a cold snap got them. Since then the F&W guys are scared to death and permits are required. No permit if any chance that they could get into a stream , ditch , etc.

I was at a clients ranch on Sat. His place is west of Ft Worth. This was before all it got really cold. His tilapia were struggling to make it. They were dead by mid week. Check his temps while I was there and they were 52 F. I'm sure with a low around 15 last night nothing made it.

Scooped up 7 massive Tilapia as they were moving slowly on the surface this weekend! I didn't see anything dying other than the big breeders. I assume small ones get eaten by LMB, but did expect to see a few mid sized fish. Fileted and ate 4 of them - incredibly good - better than the farm raised ones.

Crows and buzzards are having a early christmas dinner.. I noticed a few dead Tilapia, Sat. but yesterday they numered in the 100's.. can't wait to stock again in the spring...

So are the swimming finned predators.