Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Raising Forage and Bait Talipia in Ponds

I copied the following from a different forum which I can't find now. What is "FA"?
"I added about 5 pounds of Tilapia to control FA about a month or two ago and it has been extremely effective" .

http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=92442#Post92442

and

http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=92633#Post92633

Where did you get your Tilapia?

What kind are they?

How many fish did you get in 5 pounds?

I don't believe he got any Tilapia. Re-read the first sentence.

Thanks esshup.....I re-read that first sentence 3 times before I figured it out. "Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't.

Thanks...

I apparently was extremely nutty yesterday.

Water temps at 4 ft this am is 46.1 and a few of Rex's talipia starting to wash in right on schedule.They look very healthly (except for the death part)

Rex ( or anyone) any experience with netting these talipia as they die off and quick freezing them for cleaning later.. Or is the taste pretty much gone at this stage.I have time to net and freeze but not clean today.

Where are the northern Tilapia experts when ya need them ??

Can you net some as they startign to die off?

I would say if they were not dead for long they would be ok, but man you do not want to get a hold of a ripe one.

Other ponds in NW OH are in the mid to higher 40F range. A guy dipped out the first group of struggling tilapia (blues) today - water 47F. He cleaned them and said they were okay. He scaled and gutted them with plans to put them in his meat smoker. When water is in the mid 40's and fish are dead, I think they would be okay to clean and eat providing the fish still have a little body color and meat is not getting soft. I've cleaned fish that had been on ice for 20 hours and they were fine. We used to bring back gutted fish from Canada on ice and traveling for 12-24 hours before final cleaning and they were okay. Cecil should know about cleaning and eating fish that had previously been frozen. Cecil is currently on a fish delivery trip to BPS Missouri. Back tomorrow.

IMO fish taste should remain good after short term freezing before cleaning. One could do a simple test of cleaning one and freeze one tobe cleaned later. I doubt their would a difference in flavor. I've cleaned dead fish I found in my pond that still had body color, firm flesh, some remaining eye color, and did not detect an off flavor.

I've never heard of tilapia being scaled instead of filleted.

I would think they would taste much better filleted. Also, putting them in clear water for two to three days purges most anything that will cause an off-flaver. Even putting some in a 5 gallon bucket with water changes a couple times per day should keep them alive if they are kept in an area above 50*.

It is hard to do water changes and purging off flavors when using dead fish-LOL. I was told by one person that fileting tilapia was difficult due to the unique bone structure. Has anyoe heard of or experienced this? I will soon find out about this fillet philosophy since my tilapia in the cage are real listless this morning in 46F water. My red tilapia is still alive in the cage.

Red Tilapia where did you get that fish?

What others do you have are they Blues?

Seems like your water is pretty chily up there.

The Talipia in my pond started hunging the surface today and sticking their mouths out of the watergulping air. I was able to net 20 of them, when I cleaned them they still had good color and the flesh was firm. The fish were mostly 12 to 14 inches I will know tomarrow shortly after noon if they are any good. I think they will be fine, they have a red streak down the middle of the fillet like a striper so I cut it out. Fillets look very good very clean white meat.

Bill, I didn't realize the fish were dead....I thought they were "near" death. I have never done it, but am told they are filleted like a bluegill or crappie and that there is a "Y" bone that needs removal.

Here are some videos of a Blue Tilapia Hybrid being filleted.....I think Catmandoo and N8ly have better tutorials for how to fillet bluegill, which again is how tilapia are filleted....

How to fillet a Tilapia...Part one

How to fillet a Tilapia...Part two

To prepare or Chill kill Tilapia, simply place them in ice that has just enough water to completely surround all the fish to be cleaned....wait at least a half hour for the bodys to stiffen flat to make filleting much easier.

Mr Hello, I could tell you who gave Bill Cody his experimental tilapia, but then we'd have to kill ya....or worse yet, send you on a 4 hour boat crash ride with Jhap!

Bill,

At first I thought you were making a crack that I would have some DOA perch when I got to BPS. Then I realized you think I'm smart enough to know the answer. I would think on ice for a day or so is as much as I would do it.

BTW no DOA's and I didn't even need the oxygen. Water was about 45 degrees the whole trip and D.O. was over 10 mg/l with the fresh flow aerator connected to my cig lighter in the car. Just wish I didn't burn up so much gas pulling that trailer!

I just watched the utube videos on filleting talipia and I did it much the same as on the videos. Last summer my grandson landed a couple using worms for bait and I cooked them for him, the reddish meat turned soggy and grey when cooked, that is why I cut it off the fillets today. Has anyone else had this happen, I only ask because in the videos they only take out a couple of inches in the rib cage to remove Y-bones I split the filet along the lateral line and removed all the heavey red meat.

It is hard to do water changes and purging off flavors when using dead fish-LOL "It all depends"

I fixed the talipia this evening and is was very good, I will do more tomarrow evening for a Steelers party. I think removeing the dark red meat was a good idea, it was very mild and flakey. I checked the pond today and did not see another one and the water is very clear, surface temp 47, the rest may die and sink to the bottom.

Or have been eaaten by larger fish.......

I cleaned 6 tilapia today. They were definately having survival problems in a cage at 46.8F. A red one was dead on the bottom of the cage; eye color was still pretty natural. I also cleaned it. I found them a little easier to fillet than larger YP and similar to BG. A couple things that I noted were:
1. The peritonemum of the blues is dark colored. It is easy to scrape off the inside of the 'belly flap' with a knife. Inner abdominal wall of reds is light colored.
2. I found the skin-scale layer to be thiner on the tilapia compared to BG, LMB, YP. Removing skin/scales is not quite as easy sincde it is thinner compared to YP.
3. I had no trouble cutting through the rib pin bones which I thought were thiner abd easier to cut compared to in YP.
4. So far I have not found the red meat to be strong flavored at least on individuals less than 10".

Hey leupy, How does your pond look now(as in algae wise)? The tilapia ate all my FA but I don't think they touched the A.Pond weed or the coontail. Thats okay though because it gave some of the younger tilapia a hiding place instead of old Christmas trees. Besides that and water being low, my pond looks great!!!