Product Review – Time To Order Tilapia

Tilapia rank among our fastest growing fish sales.  They fill multiple roles including:

• Algae management
• Enhancing sportfish food chains
• Gourmet table fare

Filamentous algae is the most common vegetation challenge.  It’s the slimy variety that grows on the bottom.  When the life cycle of a patch ends, it detaches, floats to the surface, and drifts around in unsightly mats.  Pond nutrient levels influence development.  Growth spurts occur after rains wash in new nutrients.  Expensive copper-based chemicals have been the long-standing management method, but tilapia are proven biological means to control this annoying plant.

Tilapia are prolific spawners. From April through November, they supplement valuable forage for bass programs.  The expanded menu relieves pressure on bluegill and permits strengthening their critical role in the forage foundation.  We stock large tilapia to insure high survival rates in lakes with mature bass.  If you’re considering tilapia, remember, the only factor-limiting bass from achieving trophy class is the availability of food.

What could be more fun than a shore lunch or dinner with fresh tilapia?  They grace the menu of every popular restaurant.  Although tilapia are tricky to catch with a hook, they respond to floating food.  Cast net them around the feeder or feed them into a narrow inlet and seine a batch.

Call or order at the above info e-mail address!  We’ll begin deliveries around April 1 when water temps approach 60-degrees.  Tilapia pay great dividends for eight months until December 1, but they’re a tropical species and don’t survive water temps below 52 degrees.  Current price is $10 per pound, plus delivery fuel costs. Stocking rates vary with goals.  Typical amounts are 10-15 pounds per surface acre.  For heavy algae concentrations, consider 15-20 pounds per acre.  As mentioned, more and more folks are learning about tilapia.  Order today before supplies sell out!