ML and George, both of you are using Tilapia in conjunction with your grow out ponds for HSB. A curious question: are the tilapia multiplying in large numbers even with the HSB stocked? ML when you drain your grow out pond this fall would be interested to know if the population of Tilapia is huge, controlled or scarce particularly with the smaller sizes. I am looking for clues of what I might expect in the future with my pond in Thailand that has Tilapia but does not die out in the winter. Possibly would give me a hint on whether to remove or return the Talipia when fishing as they are a large part of my forage for the Peacock Bass. Also might help indicate at what point to start taking the predators out.
My pond is turpid (15" visibility), but I don't often see schools of Tilapia skimming the surface or many small ones around the edges, have stocked over 20,000 of different sizes. What are your observations in the ponds now, do you see the Tilapia schools moving or many fry on the edges? I once fished in Wilson Reservoir in Oahu and would see swarms of Tilapia moving around, Wilson had both LMB and PB, but more pressure than my pond.
The PB has habits with many similarities to the HSB, they like to hunt in schools and will herd and run bait fish up on banks often chasing them across the pond.
Anyone else with Tilapia in their ponds would be interested to know your observations also.
