Florida Bass Fishery: What's up with our Bass Fishing: The infamous "Craterfish"

Craterfish are depleting the spawning grounds of the Florida largemouth bass. What's a "craterfish"? It's my nickname for the tilapia and I call it that because they leave huge 2-3 foot craters when they spawn. These craters are readily visible in high numbers during their spawn, just check out your local pond and look near the shore.

The craterfish generally use similar sandy type bottoms that the largemouth bass does. When I fish during the spring, many of the largemouth spawning grounds I used to fish are now littered with craterfish beds. I see many fewer largemouth beds in those locations. I believe the craterfish are very aggressive during the spawn and simply chase the bass away.

So what does the bass do after they get chased away? I believe they try to find a shallow, less populated area, or try to spawn in deeper water. The problem with this are two fold. 1- The shallower, less populated areas usually have a muddy/silted bottom which will not promote a good hatch. 2- The deeper beds will have less sunlight exposure therefore a lower hatch rate.

It wouldn't be so bad if the tilapia would bite like a bass, but they don't. I believe they feed on the microscopic organisms and very small creatures. They just are not a good sports fish!

If we want a good largemouth population in Florida, the state needs to fund some research in how we can control the craterfish population. Here's some of my ideas to control them, 1-Perhaps investigate genetically infiltrating the fish with infertile hybrids, 2- An all year bowfishing season on them, 3- Unlimited netting of them by sports fishermen or commercial.

Whatever the method, if something doesn't happen real soon, we can kiss our bass goodbye! You can get a direct link to this blog at http://www.floridabasslakes.com/