I've been searching through threads on Tilapia and haven't seen much about using them intentionally as a forage fish for bass, especially on initial lake stockings. Before adding them in this year I wanted to make sure that I wasn't missing something that would cause more harm than good. My thoughts are that I can buy the smaller sizes at the moment since I do not currently have any LMB in my pond, they can breed and then come fall when I put the bass in they should have a lot of small tilapia that will get increasingly easier to catch as the temperatures get colder. In theory this will help preserve my bluegill population. The double bonus for me is that I have a serious cormorant problem as well and the larger tilapia will hopefully be the first victims to buy me some time while I get my cormorant deterrents set up. I do not have a ton of floating algae in my pond, so not sure if a lack of food may prohibit the growth and well being of the tilapia or if they will be able to find enough food just pecking algae and growth off the submerged brush and trees? I could stock more fat head minnows if that would be more beneficial, however it appears that the current bluegill population ended up eating all of them last time (it was either them or the cormorants), and I think if I add fat heads with my additional jumbo bluegill that they will likely all be eaten up before I even get the bass put in the pond.