[quote].European Carp and Tilapia being two of the worst.[quote]

I used to live in an area of Arizona that had irrigation canals and we would catch Tilapia from the canals. They were introduced (like the carp) to help keep the canals clean. You can now buy Tilapia in the grocery store frozen food dept. and fresh fillets too. We never thought to eat them, they were very small but pretty looking. I had no idea they'd be in Aussie land. It'd be interesting to find out where we get our Tilapia fillets from. I bet they're not from this country, even though they grow here.

We've hit the big time, now eating trash fish is just as sane as eating sport fish? Well they used to call large mouth bass a trash fish though......

I'll eat anything
Suz

Oh behave!

Ok I have to follow up on this one and it might make you sick but China is the largest tilapia producer in the world, followed by Egypt. It happens to number as the 5th most important fish in fish farming. In the United States and countries such as Thailand, they are becoming the plant control method of choice, reducing or eliminating the use of toxic chemicals and heavy metal-based algaecides. Arizona stocks tilapia in the canals that serve as the drinking water sources for the cities of Phoenix, Mesa and others. The fish help purify the water by consuming vegetation and detritus, greatly reducing purification costs.

Makes ya wanna eat more of em don't it?
Suz

They crap in that water too...

They (tilapia) are still an invasive species originally from Africa and are far better than the silver carp and snakeheads that were introduced in Arkansas to keep weeds down in dugouts. Problem was that Ole Miss flooded and the carp entered into the river system. They currently are as far north as Chicago and the last ditch is the fish barrier that supposedly keeps all fish at bay from entering into the largest freshwater lake system on the planet. Trouble here is, that there have been reports of silver carp, snakeheads and a couple of other invasive species that kill off ALL of the indigenous species and turn the lake and river systems into a barren wasteland relatively speaking. I should think that within our lifetime we will see the Great Lakes watershed native species totally destroyed. Talapia are fully supported by both the US and Canadian governements. I think it is a real Foul up that we allowed this. If we don't get a handle onintroducing foreign species our fish stocks will go the way of the buffalo.

You have hit the nail squarely on the head ITD. We have terrible problems with introduced fish in Australia...to the point of our native fish are struggling to survive.

To give you an insight into what can happen when the Govt introduces an invasive species to control, of all things, a native beetle, all you need do is look at the cane toad problem in Australia.

The cane toads bred immediately in captivity, and by August 1935 more than 102 young toads were released in areas around Cairns, Gordonvale and Innisfail in northern Queensland. More toads were released around Ingham, Ayr, Mackay and Bundaberg. Releases were temporarily limited because of environmental concerns but resumed in other areas after September 1936. Since their release, toads have rapidly multiplied in population and now number over 200 million and have been known to spread diseases affecting local biodiversity. Unfortunately, the introduction of the toads has not only caused large environmental detriment, but there is also no evidence that they have had an impact on the cane beetles they were introduced to predate.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/..._Australia

Getting back on topic...I have plans to do a little "marine hunting" later on this week...its almost as good as recoil therapy.

Cheers, Vince

my son caught a lovely conditioned rainbow jack trout today it was just on the 4lb mark and put up quite a good fight although it never jumped at all. I released that fish 2 years ago along with a few thousand others as wee 7 gram finger length bundles of energy and thats only the secound one we have caught. the remaining fish should spawn this may-june so heres hoping that goes well as this lake didnt have rainbows in it beforehand. we thought about releasing it but the look of horror on Nathans face at the sugestion was just too much for me so it came home to grace the dinner table.

Good job by the young fella mate.

Cheers, Vince

Just about all remaining salmonoids in Ontario are invasive species that were stocked here because of the decline of Atlantic Salmon species, and that in turn caused the native Brook trout to decline in numbers. So, most Ontario fishermen, and the MNR, who all b*tch about the other "invasive" species and not the ones they fish I think are hypocrites.

Invasive species suck, but you must live with it. Killing everything in the water and then repopulating it with native fish I am told isn't the best solution. Regretfully.

And at the same time we are supposed to turn a blind eye to the fact a lot of fish in Ontario waters are cause of human releases, from salmonoids to bass, it was not around 125 years ago in our waters. But suddenly we are supposed to care that their populations are in decline cause of other invasive species? Right.

I'll get off the soap box now ...

Dimitri

Ive been doing alright in the trout department myself, nothing too big but they taste muddy here due to the river conditions....cats very happy though he knows when the smokers being loaded he's in for a feed. Tend to catch and release most of mine though

Also got a couple of carp on my fly rod which is unusual, they were kept for sea bait, them and Koi Carp are excellent snapper burley.

good job Radar and congrats to all the boys n girls at work for the super effort in getting a big fat zero for our easter road toll for the 1st time in years.
D the lake had brown trout in it as well as a few eels it is young being only 10 years old. it was built for irrigation and a little electricity generation aswell. F&G stocked it with salmon which cant get out so only last for 3 years then die, the kids caught heaps of them which is why they were put in there, they were donated by fish farms that had extra hatchings and a better use for the surplus would be hard to find. the rainbows will be a great asset in this lake as the browns are edge dwellers and the rainbows like deeper water. the native fishes we have are not threatened by trout as they live in smaller water ways, perch are a bigger threat but sofar we have them mostly under control.

Radar wrote:

...Also got a couple of carp on my fly rod which is unusual, they were kept for sea bait, them and Koi Carp are excellent snapper burley.

They make great fertilizers too mate.

Charlie Carp

Cheers, Vince

how well did they fight Radar???
the botanic gardens may just have to be visited.
if you can get hold of the local bowhunters you may have all the burley/bait you could ever want.

Elvis,

I was just ranting in general about here. Most lakes, have at least one if not more "invasive" species that were put there on purpose, and are actively fished for today.

This is a good read about Ontario's fish populations, which I think should be required reading for every fisherman in the province before they can get a license to fish. Should be mandatory for MNR staff to read and understand it too before they open their mouths about "invasive" species.
www.mnr.gov.on.ca/stdp...068673.pdf

Our fisheries took about 50 years in the 1800's to go from well stocked to nearly depleted. In that time, starting in 1874 with Chinook Salmon, 1880 common carp was introduced, 1883 saw rainbow trout added, 1901 saw Bass spread to waters its never been in, 1912 saw Smelt started to spread in the Great Lakes, 1913 saw brown trout introduced, 1921 saw Walleye being moved around in our waterways, etc With successive additions to the initial stocks over the years to keep the fisheries "healthy".

Where as Sea Lamprey, something that oddly enough is well liked by the English, which has been in Ontario waters since 1835, and the MNR still acts like its a new and dangerous threat to all our fisheries. Something their own book that I linked to shows they have been around for nearly 200 years.

So to summarize our fisheries management in Ontario ... nice looking fish = good, ugly ones = bad. And we must remember its not a invasive species if it looks good on the dinner table, only when its "icky" does it become something we must exterminate. Regardless of the fact most "native" fish species in the province have been long gone due to over fishing.

Dimitri

Interesting fight, the little carp went ballistic, they're about 12 inches long and probably only weigh a pound at most but they do scrap, put a decent bend in the 9 weight fly rod I used. but once out of the water they stop pretty quick.
It's all good fun.
I'm having my best luck at the bottom of the Karapiro Dam about 10 minutes up the road from home. Theres some big trout 7 - 8 pound brownies and rainbows feeding off the bottom of the turbine outlet.
Have seen a 40 lb trout from the base of the Tuai Dam turbine (Lake Waikaremoana) when I was a young cop in Wairoa. The thing was UGLY! A couple of power workers went down in scuba to clean the turbines and just about shat them selves when they saw these "fresh water sharks" they returned with a spear gun and dealt to the biggest fish....40 lb it was F..n HUGE. It had been feeding off all the eels and Koura coming down the tail race.