Why don't we see Tilapia in So cal ?

I have always wondered since I have Started fishing why we don't see more of these tasty eating fish in more so cal waters ? Besides the stocks in Corona / santa ana river lakes.

Why do you think this is so ? I know that Tilapia can serve as great natural biological control for aquatic plants and Alage that pose problems and deplete oxygen levels in our favorite lakes. I don't see them being any treat to lakes as they consume plants and other nutrients that are not used by other species in natural lakes ? So in turn they should benefit our natural waters by removing the Rubbish and in turn that would increase the population , size and health of other fish . Or am I missing something here ?

Penny for your Thoughts ?

WES

I don't know much about these fish but if the just eat planta i can think of a few local parks near me that would do great with them. Interesting topic who has more info for us.

Was just a though I had yesterday Jeff while I was sitting here eating one of those tasty guys.

Now don't get me wrong I am not saying that we need to ninja dump Tilapia into our local waters, just always wondered if there was any other cause why they never get planted into local lakes.

Several years ago we used to go down to a pond in the Santa Ana River bottom at the north end of Tyler St. in Riverside, that had lots of good sized Tilapia (Tilapia Mosambique). We would have a blast catching and releasing these very strong fish on our ultralight rods and small trout tube jigs. Supposedly they were stocked in this portion of the river to control the water plants and moss growth. You can still find them in the slower deeper pools, but I have not been down there for quite some time.

Misfitdog wrote:Was just a though I had yesterday Jeff while I was sitting here eating one of those tasty guys.

Now don't get me wrong I am not saying that we need to ninja dump Tilapia into our local waters, just always wondered if there was any other cause why they never get planted into local lakes.

Use to be tilapia in the Salton Sea, don't know if there's any left though.

Yeah, they are still in the Sea. About the only surviving fish in there now. There are some big ones to be caught too. 3, 4, even 5 pounders!

FWIW, there's a guy on cl in the LA area that sells fingerlings, apparently he breeds them. Being that they are considered a "game" fish, what he's doing is illegal, but he's getting away with it.

No it is not illegal to sell tilapia babies because they are considered a "tropical fish" in the pet industry. I've bought lots of varieties of baby tilapias for my aquariums. But, no one is allowed to let these fish go into a public body of water without the approval of the CDFG. And I do not believe these fish are listed as "Game Fish" as per DFG rules..

Komori wrote:No it is not illegal to sell tilapia babies because they are considered a "tropical fish" in the pet industry.  I've bought lots of varieties of baby tilapias for my aquariums.  But, no one is allowed to let these fish go into a public body of water without the approval of the CDFG.  And I do not believe these fish are listed as "Game Fish" as per DFG rules..  

Last I checked with the DFG, which was about 2 years ago, I could have sworn I saw them on the game fish list, but what the hey, I could be wrong..lol

Yup they are considered a Tropical Fish for aquariums . you can buy all kinds of them off ebay , craigslist , etc.

Maybe one of these days I will hit up the Sea , have never been , but from what I hear don't go alone lol

Tilapia are extremely prolific. They are invasive in all senses. They are also good eating as well. Salton Sea, in which our family will be hitting it hard this coming early spring and throughout the summer, is full of them. We caught on average of 2lbs towards 4 lbs as the larger ones coming in to make beds, roughly at 8ft to 15ft of water. During hotter days, they will move to 20ft to 32ft of water.

I haven't heard of or seen tilapia anywhere else in local waters for over a decade, unless they've been introduced into the water illegally.

Misfitdog wrote:Yup they are considered a Tropical Fish for aquariums .  you can buy all kinds of them off ebay , craigslist , etc.

Maybe one of these days I will hit up the Sea , have never been , but from what I hear don't go alone lol

Never been down there, but why???

Why indeed. Why would a person climbs a mountain? Why would a person eat bugs? Why would a man get a mani-pedicure? Why would a guy chops his manhood and add two mounds to calk himself a her? Why the hell not? We're all freakishly insane.

TheAsianGuy wrote:Why indeed. Why would a person climbs a mountain? Why would a person eat bugs? Why would a man get a mani-pedicure? Why would a guy chops his manhood and add two mounds to calk himself a her? Why the hell not? We're all freakishly insane.

   ,  But Still I would like to have Tilapia closer to home   and not to have to pay $30 just to fish them (corona) or drive 2 hrs to the sea alone lol

  

Misfitdog wrote:I have always wondered since I have Started fishing why we don't see more of these tasty eating fish in more so cal waters ? Besides the stocks in Corona / santa ana river lakes.

Why do you think this is so  ?  I know that Tilapia can serve as great natural biological control for aquatic plants and Alage that pose problems and deplete oxygen levels in our favorite lakes. I don't see them being any treat to lakes as they consume plants and other nutrients that are not used by other species in natural lakes ? So in turn they should benefit our natural waters by removing the Rubbish and in turn that would increase the population , size and health of other fish  . Or am I missing something here ?

Penny for your Thoughts ?  

WES

I don't know what you're talking about...I catch them all the time inside a tank at the Ranch 99 Asian market  

Misfitdog wrote:
   ,  But Still I would like to have Tilapia closer to home   and not to have to pay $30 just to fish them (corona) or drive 2 hrs to the sea alone lol

Try to fish from shore at the Sea for a day, roughly around early of March to late of May. The bites will be hotter, but it will be intense as it is during the cooler days of spring and early summer. That place gets way too hot from June and on. The fun of catching one every few seconds is freaking awesome fun. Double and triple catches on one line, using an ultra light gear, feels like you're struggling with a freaking tuna.

I've snagged a couple out of Legg Lake but I'm pretty sure they were releases from people. All but one were in pretty bad shape with fin rot and other disease on them. I've heard rumors that there are some small versions available in the stream/river that runs near legg lake too, but never bothered to confirm them myself.

My first thought (aloud) is that as exceedingly prolific herbivores - one may want to think long and hard about introducing tilapia into a body of water where they currently do not exist.
Vegetation offers oxygenation and shelter for the "game" species most of us want to catch.

An invasion of salad eating fish with questionable predator checks, may prove hazardous to their long term numbers.
I've known this to happen in local lakes - weed eradication results in lowered bluegill and bass popularions planting a fish to do the "weeding" for you seems kinda nuts.

They're not just a salad eating machine. They're opportunistic on all level. If it can fit into their mouths, they will eat. They eat their youngs..they'll eat other species youngs. They'll eat your youngs if your youngs fit into their mouths.

However, it's a great species to have to keep a water body that's out of control in nutrient influent, such as pretreatment plant and farmland ponds. There are so many remaining dairy in our area, where algae blooms are deadly on so many different level. Tilapia is a tremendous source of algae control. I will not reveal the source of these ponds of course, nor are they to be eaten from these ponds..

TheAsianGuy wrote:They're not just a salad eating machine. They're opportunistic on all level. If it can fit into their mouths, they will eat. They eat their youngs..they'll eat other species youngs. They'll eat your youngs if your youngs fit into their mouths.

However, it's a great species to have to keep a water body that's out of control in nutrient influent, such as pretreatment plant and farmland ponds. There are so many remaining dairy in our area, where algae blooms are deadly on so many different level. Tilapia is a tremendous source of algae control. I will not reveal the source of these ponds of course, nor are they to be eaten from these ponds..

Yeah, Leo.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] lists blue tilapia as invasive and directly competitive with existing species. They also can hybridize with others of their kind - "Frankenfish" come to mind?
Tilapia are great when cloistered and controlled; aquaculture proves that.
Tossed in with 'gills and other fish, well, it might be a bad thing.  

dayhut wrote:
Yeah, Leo.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] lists blue tilapia as invasive and directly competitive with existing species. They also can hybridize with others of their kind - "Frankenfish" come to mind?
Tilapia are great when cloistered and controlled; aquaculture proves that.
Tossed in with 'gills and other fish, well, it might be a bad thing.  

Yep, play around with this multi-subspecies will create a detrimental effects across the board for any healthy water body. If the water body is connected to other water bodies, you're in a world of hurt.

True Playing around with multiple species would be bad .. I remember back in the 80's watching people dump coolers loaded with crappie into Perris . Still to this day I have not caught a crappie big enough there to call worthy lol

they just dont like me I guess !