Hawaiibassfishing Forum

Thanks Stan for the Pleco's for my pond. Love to pick up more fish for my home pond.

James/Josh

Lots of people don't like all the Pleco's in the lake. But the more I'm finding out about them the more it seems that having them is a good thing. They are the little vacuum cleaners that eat all the "stuff" off the bottom of the lake and run it through their digestive system and poop out stuff that is better for the environment than what they ate. They don't compete with the "game fish"... but rather make the lake a cleaner place to live.

If you have more information about Pleco's, please share it with everyone. The more we know about the different fish in the lake and how they do their job there, the better we can manage the resource.

I heard that Bill Devick did a fish population study around 1978 and it showed something like 36 "tropical" fish species in the lake. Experts assure me there are a lot more these days. I tell people we probably have more species of tropical species in the lake today than found in most pet stores... and with the freedom of living in a "large tank" (the lake) they grow really big too.

Here is an example... don't remember the name, but it put up a good fight.

That's a Jaguar Cichlid aka Jaguar Guapote (Parachromis managuensis ).


What I don't like about the Plecos is the erosion they cause by digging nesting holes in the bank. I've watched several shows about the Amazon River, and the Plecos seem to be popular table fair among the natives. I've seem them prepared by throwing directly on fire like we do with Kala. Crack the shell and remove the cooked flesh like lobster.

Stan did you catch the Plecos on a hook? The only time I ever caught them on hook was snagging accidentally while trolling for bass.

Were doing a fish population study. Yes, Plecos will take a hook, just remember they are bottom feeders... The guys that fish at the ramp with those long poles catch them all the time. Catching plecos, catfish, a few red devils.
But we really need to study all the fish in the lake.

Thats just one ugly fish! But I have been educated that they can have a positive impact on our fishery! Its good to keep an open mind.

id like to believe that despite the damage they do to the bank that they had a positive impact during the salvinia and hyacinth invasions. imagine all that decaying matter along the bottom from dying fish and dead plants. i think the carp and plecos helped keep it from really making a mess of the bottom of the lake during that time. after all thats what they do in fishtanks. sometimes there is a positive with a negative.