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

So have you pulled them all out now or are a few still alive?

All were pulled out since they were obviously very stressed and would not live much longer. My tilapia were all smaller than 12" and I did not remove the red meat since there was not an over abundance of it. I have never had off flavor from red meat of store bought tilapia. As an experiment one should slice off some of the red meat from a larger tilapia and cook it separately and compare the flavor between the meats of red vs white. I've done that for Lake Erie walleye and the red meat is very fishy flavored. But I have never noticed fishy flavor on tilapia having red meat. I have had off flavored tilapia due to bluegreen algae. That flavor is recognizaable as earthy, moldy or mildly vile.

Hang Loose, sorry to get back so late but my pond is also in very good shape, water is clear vut about a foo low, looks like we are going to get a little rain but there will be very little run of so it will most likely stay low until we ge a down pour or the ground freezes. I was able to harvest about 25% of the talapia that I put in they must have grown like crazy, never saw any babies. They yellow perch I put in must have ended up food for the cats and lmb, I have not seen one and no one has caught one, I put in some 8-9 inchers as well as the ones we caught at "catch of the day". I have some snalls and put in 6" shellcrackers a couple of months back, I would guess they have also been eaten. I have taken out most of the cats so maybe I will try again next year. Glad to hear your pond is doing well. Give me a call, we can come up with some the new next year.

Does anyone still have Tilapia left in their pond right now?

I do. There are 4 in about a foot of water under the ice. Be very quiet, they're sleeping.

Those long naps are killer!

Place next years orders early. My first 2 orders for next spring is triple all of last years stocker tilapia sales combined!

Do early orders = confirmed delivery dates?

Rex, what do you recommend for algae control in approx. 2 acres? You know how big my pond is, and couple people I know want to get a few when you deliver to my place. I can hold theirs in a cage, it wouldn't be worth your time and fuel driving to their ponds for the qty. that they want.

Well if you can see them through the Ice I would dig them out and cook them up, they should still be good.

Do you know if and when you may be through Oklahoma next spring?

Also do you ever have any extra fish on your trucks to sell at any of your stops or do you just bring what people order?

Scott, for just algae control, around 25-40 pounds for the 2 acre pond. I am planning to do at least 5 seperate runs through Illinois, Missouri, SE Iowa, Indiana, NW Ohio Kentucky, Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee from mid April through mid May depending on water temps and species ordered. Two runs are close to becoming over loaded.

MrHello, There needs to be enough demand in the area to schedule a trip there to cover the fuel costs. I anticipate enough for a good run through there and on north in late March to mid april depending on how soon the water warms. A solid 60-62 top to bottom is best in case a cold snap happens.

Rainman,the tilipia I stocked this past spring pretty much eliminated the pithophora algae in my 8+/- ac.pond!The pithophora is a tough algae and did not respond well to several applications of cutrine plus reward. The tilipia did the job!
My pond is now 53 degrees and we are expecting several days in the low 20's.I have not seen any tilipia come to the surface but expect to see them in the next few days.I caught 10 +/- tilipia in early Nov.and their weight was from 2 lb.to 3lb 4oz.I filleted these fish with an electric knife and cut out the red meat along the center of the fillet.The red meat has a strong flavor and it's removal improves the flavor.Thank you for your input on the pond boss forum! Al Allison

Al, the red meat must be some sort of hybrid lineage thing. I don't recall hearing any customers mentioning it with the Blues.

I'm glad to hear they did a good job for you! In an 8 acre pond, I doubt if you will see any floaters. Whatever didn't get eaten by CC or LMB the turtles will chow down on.. That is one of the best parts of using Tilapia...nearly 100% of otherwise wasted nutrients in your pond are now moved up the food chain as more and healthier fish flesh...AND no effort on your part other than the stocking to make it happen.

I had 4 dead Tilapia in my pond show up about 3 weeks after temps dropped into the low 40's. They were all about 10"-12" long. That's all that were seen.

Tilapia still kicking around in the area around well water outlet.

Breeders in shop are doing well and I'm looking forward to doing more trials with some in floating cages this year. Going to try to get a spawn earlier this year.

Would finally get to eat some myself.

Wow what are you water temps there?

I went out Sunday and the water temp near the well was 78 degrees. There were spawning beds everywhere around there. I then moved about 50 yards away and the water temp was 56 degrees.

Water temp are sure to change this week since it was 80 on Sunday and we are supposed to get down to the teens for the next couple nights.

Thanks for the update T715. Any big changes in your operation. Your talipia still over wintering around the well?

I thought I was going to loose some this past week. Had over three days where I didn't above 30. As you northerners laugh, that's rare for me. Didn't loose any and they are still gathered around.

Should have some tilapia projects kicking off end of next month.

Great news!!!

Rex,

Hey, been catching some of your trout!

I am interested in adding some of you tilapia to my pond this spring, and I am curious what you would recommend? I'm a third acre (maybe younremember the place).