Tilapia

[Hugh Greer]

Hey pond dudes and dudettes.

I have a 1/2+ acre pond.   As noted previously, I had it going good, but lost a lot of fish in a flood...plus my feeder got messed up .  The spring, I am adding 650 3-5 inch CN bluegill.  I am thinking about Tilapia in May for "fish food" and "human food".  Any comments about Tilapia...amounts and effects to the pond...are appreciated!

 

Thanks...Hugh...I will send picks when I get to the cabin.

Hughg 

[Magnolia Rick]

I added 7 pound last March ( check out my pictures) clean pond and really added a great food change for my gills and bass, i think in a small pond 1/2 to 3/4 arcers 5 pound ia a great add.

Took about 6 nice 1 pld out late summer. GOOOOOOOOOOOOD on the grill

[Zach Pierce]

Rick,

 

I can't remember but how many fish did you get in the 7 pounds you stocked?

 

Also if I can source some I plan to add them as well.

[Walt Foreman]

What are your goals for the pond, Hugh?  650 is a lot of bluegill for a pond that size - I wouldn't add more than half that many if you're trying to grow trophy bluegill.  Along those same lines, I would advise skipping the tilapia if your primary goal is big bluegill - the tilapia not only will directly compete with the bluegill for food, both the pellets from the feeder and all of the natural foods bluegill eat in the pond which the tilapia will also eat, but they'll take predation pressure from the bass off the bluegill so that the bluegill overpopulate and end up reaching a fraction of the size they would otherwise.  You'll still end up with a few decent-sized bluegill because of the pellet food, but if you skip the tilapia you can expect to grow some two-pound bluegill within four or five years.

 

Do you have bass in the pond?  If you don't have any bass the bluegill will get out of control very quickly and you'll have an overpopulated mess.

 

I noticed you're in Tennessee - I have a pond management company out of Columbia if you're interested in having the pond professionally managed.  Who are you getting your fish from?  I'll be making a coppernose run sometime in the next couple weeks and can get you better prices than anyone else in the area.  If you like I can come by between now and then and evaluate the pond for you to get a better idea of a game plan for reaching your goals for the pond.

[Zach Pierce]

So how many total do you think you were able to catch before they died off?

 

Some people say they are easy to catch others say they never see them again once stocked.

 

Just wondering.

[Zach Pierce]

Did you decide to add some Tilapia?