Dave's ground breaking news.

[davidstcldfl]

OK, thanks Stucco.....

I'm surprised you've had time, to even be looking in the ditches. Sounds like you've been pretty busy. You must of sneaked off, when the 'boss' was else where.... :P

What size have you seen ? I'm guessing, you must be seeing fingerlings in the shallows (?)

[stucco]

I have a couple of ditches on the way home from work I check regularly and one right by the house which has a big one over a pound that dashes for the culvert when he sees me coming . I am thinking of trying for him at night. The average size I’ve been seeing is about the size of my palm. Let me know when.

[jackalope]

That would be nice .... just walk down to the nearest ditch for live stock ...... just as long as there's no aggilaters in that ditch

[davidstcldfl]

....if there is a ditch with water in it......and especially if there are fish in it....then there is a gator(s) somewhere !
It's the water mocasins, that I worry about...
The gators normally aren't a problem, unless some dumb +++ has been feeding them.....or if it's spring and 'love is in the air'. Then the 'guy' gators are out walking around , looking for a few girlfriends.....
As a lady found out yesterday...she's probably getting ready to move back to New York today... . A 9 footer, was trying to ring her front door bell.
http://www.wesh.com/news/23224502/detail.html

[davidstcldfl]

I managed to catch a few of my tilapia, for breeding stock.
I grabbed the bigger fish....6 females and 1 male. The male's tail has a little red/pink on it. So he is easy to spot in the tank.
It didn't take long...he was trying to get some 'attention' from the ladies. No luck that I saw. Hopefully, he works on his 'pick up lines'....

[davidstcldfl]

It's only been about 9 days since I moved some breeders inside......

Mr. Red Tail has worked on his pick up lines and moves...... . I just finished setting up a nursery tank and moving a 'mom' into it.
It's pretty easy to figure out.... when the rest of the fish are attacking the pellets, and one is staying off by her self. She must be holding.
She spit out some of the eggs, into the plastic bag I moved her with. I dumped them into the nursery tank with her. I hope she picks them up.

Now I'm wondering how many females are holding eggs in the big tank outside ? I would think most eggs would be lost or eaten out there. If they were to hatch....same thing, I would think (?)

[badflash]

Some will always survive. You'll be overrun with little guys and willhave to deal with them eventually.

[stucco]

Maybe I should look a little closer next time I’m feeding.

[badflash]

I have a breeder colony of T. hornorum. Yesterday I spotted a bunch of 1" fingerlings. I check these guys every day for holding females and never saw a thing. I'm motivated as the males are $150 each. Somehow I missed them. Very cool to find $1000 in your tank.

[stucco]

Nice! The other day I was happy to find 10 bucks in my pocket.