Tilapia Fish

[CDay]

I see that they are planning to stock these types of fish up here at Mallard lake this May. I usually do not fish this much because of all the fishing pressure it gets, but I might have to try and catch one of these things.

[deerhunter]

I've heard they're good eat'n.

[Earnhardt fan #1]

What the ????? what do they look like?

[deerhunter]

A big bream on steroids.

They are a semi tropical fish.

[Earnhardt fan #1]

gimme some

[deerhunter]

They also stock them in Lake Hogue just outside of Weiner.

[cpeuban]

Catch 'em while you can. They'll die next winter. Gets too cold here.
They are good. And fight hard too. I caught a 2 1/2 pounder in Mexico a year a half ago.

[nitro23]

hogue has alot of them i was told that when the water gets 50 degress or lower they die

[Buck]

Several people go to Hogue and dip them up when they start coming up,they are great eating.

[fullcredit]

Tilapia are great eating fish. They were first brought to America for vegetation control--and do an excellent job of it. We raise them at our high school--unfortunately we lost about 600 over the weekend. For more info check out Tilapia (http://www.cherrysnapper.com/cultivat.htm)

[TheBattman]

Originally posted by deerhunter:
I've heard they're good eat'n. They are quite good - much like bream/perch and can be prepared with the same methods.

They are a tropical fish - in the Cichlid family (for those who know anything about aquarium fish - the Oscar and many of the other more agressive tropical fish are in this family).

They look a bit like a bream - here's a picture:

http://ag.arizona.edu/azaqua/aquarium.jpeg

The tilapia was first grown in aquaculture for the purpose of cheap protein for 3rd world countries. These fish adapt well to captive growth in aquaponics agriculture set-ups, thus you can get a double crop! The species hails from Africa. I'm not certain how these fish will fare in Arkansas - their water temperature requirements may be a bit on the warm side for Arkansas waters....water temps below 65 degrees will make them sick and likely kill them off. I would guess the stocking of these fish would be for seasonal use. The plus is that, with plenty of food, can grow from 1 oz up to 1.5 lbs in 6 months!

Another picture - these are kind of pretty:


http://www.fishfarming.com/images/farm-raised%20tilapia.jpg

[ARMallardSlayer]

I bowfished for them in Texas....they looked to me like a crappie with a set of blue-gum lips...

[Hambone]

I am glad to see we are not a racist group of gentlemen either........excellent eating fish!!

[ARMallardSlayer]

Me too!

[beltcutter]

My dad raised some in an indoor recirculating system. He thought about trying this on a larger scale, but it was not feasible at the time. They are hardy eaters and grow out fast. Make good table fare as well.

[kildog]

what do you use for bait....watermelon seeds?

[fairweatherhunter]

I bets they taste better than grinnels... ;)