[Twist]

Hi all!,

I'm new to this forum,but certainly no stranger to fishing.I fish on occasion at a little shallow pond at a friend of mine's,there are some fairly large blue tilapia in the pond.They bed in the shallows and are super-spooky.They take off fast,there are plenty of them,and the pond is shallow,perfect for a fight on fly tackle.Some questions that I have concerning them are What flies will they take,How to tie them,and techniques in presentation. I have not been able to gather much information on them at all.

Thanks all,

Mark

[Twist]

Does anyone Know anything about this species?

[DoubleHaul]

I've caught a few. A small white wolly bugger has worked for me on fish that were guarding the nest. They are filter feeders so I don't think they take a fly out of hunger. Here's a link with some good comments:

http://outdoorsbest.zeroforum.com/thread?id=310052

I think the key is using small flies and finding fish that are actively guarding a nest. Good luck!

[Twist]

Ah I see,make them aggressive at an "intruder" so they will take it. When are their main bedding months?

[JSzymczyk]

Only thing I know about them is they taste good with cocktail sauce and lemon.

[DoubleHaul]

Twist- I see them bedding year round here in Sw Florida. We have a few different species though so I'm not sure they are all blue tilapia.

[JJD]

I've lived in South FL for a while. Use a red or olive San Juan Worm, or a small #10 Wooly Bugger.

If they are bedding, use bright yellow or orange flies, since these seem to irritate them into striking. Often they will "blow" a fly out of the bed. Trial and error are your best bets. They fight MUCH harder than most bass, so it is a balancing act between a light enough tippet to ellicit a strike and something heavy enough for the fight - same on the hook strength.

[luvinbluegills]

There are quite a few species of tilapia and while all of them if big enough will eat minnows or other baitfish, they tend to like their prey on the smaller side.

[Pkrotine]

When I lived in Phoenix, these fish were in every canal system, and every pond connected to that canal.


The best pattern I have found for them, is a simi seal leech in golden/flesh colored. much have a copper beadhead. I have tried them without and with black beadheads, and I didn't get 1/2 the hook ups I did with it. They are also very finicky fish if they are the least bit stressed. They are also, from what I've studied, and found out on my own, very territorial. about a size 12 or 14 simi seal in golden/flesh colored, with copper beahead. good luck!

[Twist]

Awesome, thanks guys' I will have to learn how to tie a few of these flys,and buy some bead heads I have a local retention pond near by with tons of them,in big schools.

[Oldgeezer]

[quote name='Twist' date='Oct 16 2008, 03:12 PM' post='324237']
Hi all!,

I'm new to this forum,but certainly no stranger to fishing.I fish on occasion at a little shallow pond at a friend of mine's,there are some fairly large blue tilapia in the pond.They bed in the shallows and are super-spooky.They take off fast,there are plenty of them,and the pond is shallow,perfect for a fight on fly tackle.Some questions that I have concerning them are What flies will they take,How to tie them,and techniques in presentation. I have not been able to gather much information on them at all.

Thanks all,

Mark
[/quote

Hello Mark

I live in SE Indiana and raise Tilapia on my Aquaculture farm. Generally they come in a dark purple/gray, white and silver with strips colors. The largest one I ever raised was a little over 3 lbs , silver with black stripes. Tilapia eat algae as their main food source, like the green duck weed and meal weed you see on the surface of ponds. They are great pond cleaners and the bass love them. My bass will pass up fat head minows and tear into the Tilapia. They are also very strong and will fight hard like a bass when caught. They are also very spooky. I feed my Tilapia a floating catfish feed and once they are used to it, they readily come to the surface to feed. I would suggest that you get them trained to the floating catfish feed and then tie up some brown spun deer hair flies that are cube shaped and resemble the feed that will float or get some of the brown puff balls sold in a craft store that look like little salmon eggs and coat them with something that keeps them floating. Additionally they are a good eating fish, firm white meat, high in protien.
Good Luck
Oldgeezer

[SteveGibson]

I do "fairly" well on tilapia and catch most of them on fly rod. I don't target
them, per se, but catch them while blind-casting.

They are in most every freshwater lake, pond, river, canal and creek in the
state. Most people see them on their beds and try to fish for them. But they're
usually very nervous and will spook.

I've heard people say that they'll cast a bait, lure or fly on the nest and wait
for the spooked tilapia to return and pick up the object to move it off the
nest.

I've found that in waters where they're plentiful that I'll catch them on a
variety of flies: popping bugs, my Myakka Minnow and nymphs.

True story: One day John Roche, who is the park manager of Oscar Scherer State
Park in Osprey, Fla., and I were fishing Gilley Creek off Lake Manatee. We were
casting No. 7 Rapalas on spinning tackle. We could see fish swimming 10 out of
the shoreline grass to take out lures. Turned out they were large tilapia.

John called a state fisheries biologist, who promptly told us we weren't
catching tilapia because they're vegetarians and don't eat minnows. John
assured him that we were catching tilapia. He said, "Well, they must have been
defending their nests."

The next were 15 feet away.

I used to catch a lot of them on the Myakka River, but there was a fish kill out
there two years ago that hurt the population.

Also, we target tilapia at the Jackson Road Recycling Facility in Venice.

Additionally, I've caught spotted tilapia and blue tilapia on flies from canals
in the Everglades.

Blue tilapia on FLY Nymph



Spotted tilapia on Myakka Minnow