# Tilapia?



## LC FISHERMAN (Sep 25, 2012)

New to Texas, is this a tilapia


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## Meadowlark (Jul 19, 2008)

Yes...looks like a Mozambique to me. Where did you catch it?


p.s. welcome to Texas. I wasn't born here but got here as fast as I could.


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## LC FISHERMAN (Sep 25, 2012)

Thanks, are they any good to eat? My 5 year old son caught several of them but I released them all because I was unsure what they were. Caught them in a local pond in League City.


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## Meadowlark (Jul 19, 2008)

Yes, generally they are excellent to eat....check out the prices for fresh Tilapia in the stores and you will be shocked. 

I raise them in ponds and fill my freezer with them each fall. They are great eating....but their taste can depend on what they have been eating. I have one pond that you simply can't eat the Tilapia from it but the others are outstanding.


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## LC FISHERMAN (Sep 25, 2012)

I appreciate the help, gonna go see if I can get them back on the line tonight!


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## Longshot270 (Aug 5, 2011)

I'm jealous, I've only been able to catch them with a cast net and recurve bow.

Also, if you catch them, do not release them. A recent game law says you gotta gut them.


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## chucktx (Sep 12, 2011)

can you post a link to that statement????


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## ottert (Apr 25, 2005)

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/regulations/fish_hunt/fish/exotic.phtml

From another fishing board.

"I'm pretty sure it does not apply to lakes with a know Tilapia population like the power plant lakes (Braunig, Calaveras) unless you plan to remove the fish from the lake (keep them). The reason they want you to remove the intestines is so the fish does not leave the lake alive and end up in another lake where it doesn't belong. "


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## pYr8 (Apr 17, 2012)

I've seen where they use tilapia at commercial hybrid striper farms as tank cleaners. Then bolster their income with tilapia sales. Very fast growing fish.


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## J L Dunn (Sep 16, 2005)

I'm a fly fisherman...does anyone know what "fly" will catch them?


JLD


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## Meadowlark (Jul 19, 2008)

I catch them on the fly all the time. They will hit bead headed nymphs like the Prince and Pheasant tail and Squirel tail. To get them you have to put the fly right on their nose because they won't chase it and can't outswim a bluegill that might be interested. Great fun to catch and better to eat.


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## Eat Sleep Fish (Apr 19, 2012)

I have seen Tilapia up to 4lbs+ in horsepen bayou and caught several up to 3 pounds. I like to sight fish them and when I do I like using bread, I caught mine without a bobber just free lining it to them. Heres two decent ones I caught at a secret hole but believe me I have seen them twice this size. They are a blast on light tackle. Skip to 4:10 to watch him eat the bread ball and the hook set.


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## pYr8 (Apr 17, 2012)

Nice tactic, nailed it. Very similar to an international carp fishing tactic. I saw quite a bit of that in South Africa.


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## Eat Sleep Fish (Apr 19, 2012)

I can't remember if I tried the bobber or not but free lining did best for me. They were hesitant and a little picky plus I was dodging turtles trying to get it but the free lining seemed to be best for me.


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## Boboe (Feb 11, 2009)

Like others have mentioned, it's illegal to release a tilapia once caught. He's got to be killed. They're invasive.


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## creeker (Feb 14, 2005)

*talapia on a fly*

I used to live in Brazil and we would chum Talapia with dog food and then use a "fly" that looked like the brown floating dog food. Caught a bunch of them.


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## Oyster Dog (May 21, 2005)

J L Dunn said:


> I'm a fly fisherman...does anyone know what "fly" will catch them?
> 
> JLD


I have good luck with a #10 black foam spider. They have small mouths so a small hook is a must.


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## Stripe Mullett (Aug 20, 2008)

*Tilapia*

Yes that's a blue tilapia for sure. I think I posted pictures a few years back. We would have meat hauls at Gibbons Creek in the winter when they were running the power plant. They would group up by the thousands at the discharge and we would catch them with slab spoons.


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## Dmcputtz (Jun 4, 2012)

Stripe Mullett said:


> Yes that's a blue tilapia for sure. I think I posted pictures a few years back. We would have meat hauls at Gibbons Creek in the winter when they were running the power plant. They would group up by the thousands at the discharge and we would catch them with slab spoons.


 "Catch them" with slab spoons? THROWNET..........


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