Tilapia prove to be popular sportfish on Lake Hogue

WEINER - Sportsmen visiting Lake Hogue in 2003 harvested over 4,400 tilapia using bream fishing techniques or by dipping them up during the winter die-off. Tilapia have been stocked into the 250-acre fishing lake since 2001 as an experiment to provide an extra food source for largemouth bass and other predators.

When anglers learned that these exotics could be caught using worms or crickets, fishing excitement grew in northeast Arkansas. Many fishermen reported catching ice chests full of tilapia in 2001 and 2002. Area biologists believe that if sportsmen were harvesting enough tilapia, that stocking additional lakes might be a cost-effective approach for providing additional fishing opportunities.

In order to accurately estimate the number of tilapia being taken by Arkansans, an exploitation study was employed in 2003 using reward tags. Out of over 10,100 tilapia stocked in May 2003, tags were attached to 873. Respondents were paid $20 for each tag that they returned. At the end of the study period 378 tags had been recovered and turned in for over $7,500 in reward payments.

People returning tags were asked to fill out a short questionnaire about their recent fishing trip to Lake Hogue. Questionnaire results demonstrated that anglers that went to the lake to fish specifically for tilapia caught the majority of the tilapia. Incidental fishermen also harvested good numbers of tilapia while fishing for other species such as redear or bluegill.

Another piece of information gleaned from anglers was that tilapia anglers stayed 50 percent longer than incidental fishermen and that they exhibited tilapia catch rates that were 80 percent higher than other panfish fishermen. These results indicate that tilapia can successfully be targeted as a sportfish.

A cost analysis was performed to determine whether the final return justified the $10,000 stocking expense. The harvest data indicates that the total commercial value of the 4,430 fish taken by sportsmen in 2003 was $11,075. This dollar value does not include any money spent by the angler on each fishing trip (gas, bait, tackle, food, etc.). Addition of those multiplier dollars pushes the value of Lake Hogue’s tilapia fishery to around $15,000. These figures alone suggest that tilapia stocking is indeed cost-effective. Keep in mind that many fishermen visited the lake seeking tilapia but failed to catch a tagged fish. Their time and expenditures are not reflected in this value estimate.

Mallard Lake in Mississippi County and Lake Hogue are slated to receive tilapia stockings in May 2004. Tilapia have earned the reputation as being easy to catch, hard fighting and good tasting. These qualities provide Arkansas anglers with a summertime angling winner.
 

Click Here To Return To The Previous Page