08-14-06, 05:02 PM | #1 |
BassFishin.Com Member
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: vero beach, florida
Posts: 28
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Tilapia and Florida largemouths
Three years ago I stocked a barren little commercial parking drainage pond with 8 largemouths. Last week my grandson and I went there to see how they fared. Not only had they grown but had reproduced as well. We caught two of what I assume are the original broodstock - a female about 3 pounds and a male about a pound and a half. We also caught 6 smaller fish in the 8 to 12 inch range. The source of bass forage in this approx. 3000 sf pond turns out to be a dense population of blue tilapia. These fish are vegetarian and seem to be a near perfect neighbor and source of food for bass, at least here in Florida. This is the first time I've personally seen this particular eco-balance. Anyone else seen these two qualiity fish isolated in one particular waterway??? We caught a few of the tilapia with bread and the wife cooked them up. Outstanding.
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08-14-06, 07:37 PM | #2 |
BassFishin.Com Super Veteran
Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 1,030
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The most important forage base for bass in Mexico is tilapia, they grow big, fat and fast just because tilapia spawn as many as 5 times during the years so there´s a constant supply of bite size fish year long. Problem is that tilapia can also be a pest if not fished and harvested, also, they suffer from dwarfism if the population is too large, they don´t grow but yet they continue to reproduce. One of the reasons why peacock bass were introduced in Florida was to keep the population of exotic panfish like tilapias and oscars in line.
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