# Tilapia fishing



## huntmaster58 (Oct 1, 2008)

Can anyone tell me how to catch Tilaia on rod and reel, what typs of bait etc.


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## Meadowlark (Jul 19, 2008)

I do a lot of Tilapia fishing in ponds and have caught them in various ways including on small flys imitating nymphs.

However, I have to say they are not easy to catch, especially in the presence of BG or other small aggressive fish. The Tilapia are not as aggressive nor as fast as BG and when fishing for them with bait, it can be very frustrating in the presence of BG.

The one method I have found that works often is to fish for Tilapia in late fall when the water temps get in the 60s. On bright days following a cold front the shallows of a pond will often warm fairly quickly. At these times, I use range cubes placed in shallow water to lure the Tilapia away from BG. At times, I have caught Tilapia on every cast this way with regular old worms being the best bait and corn a close second. It can be an absolute blast catching 2 and 3 pound Tilapia on every cast....but this isn't 100% reliable either.

Fished yesterday for them, in fact, and caught several really nice ones, but a lot of BG mixed in. 

I've never tried this technique in a lake, but feel it would work...if all else fails, take your cast net just in case.


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## huntmaster58 (Oct 1, 2008)

the place i will be fishing doesnt seem to have a population of BG's, since i have never caught any. This is a good size lake. would you sugest the nymphs over the worms? if so what brand and name of nymphs.


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## kim e cooper (Feb 18, 2006)

Have a ? what is a BG.


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## huntmaster58 (Oct 1, 2008)

i think he means Blue gills


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## Meadowlark (Jul 19, 2008)

I'd suggest you try the worms first as they are the most reliable, especially if there aren't many bluegills (BG) or other sunfish around.

My favorite nymph for Tilapia is a Beadhead Prince nymph (size 8 -10) ... it doesn't always work and when it does you have to put the fly right in front of the Tilapia cause they won't chase it like BG or other sunfish. 

Some mighty fine eating...and unless the water is warmed by some means...the Tilapia will die anyway when temps start to fall below 55 degrees. So, catch and eat. Good luck.


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## nammie (Oct 8, 2007)

shoot there is this bayou off of 1960 and wortham behind a man made lake that has tons of them i catch them on small pieces of worms, but i don't eat them because it is from teh bayou. there are alot of bass too, but not really big ones


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## fishinganimal (Mar 30, 2006)

Throw a cast net you will have better luck.... LOL Non-Game Fish


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## Meadowlark (Jul 19, 2008)

Nammie,

Do they survive there year around? That pipe that feeds water may have warm water coming out of it. If they survive the winters, they can reach some really nice sizes....five pounds is easily achievable. Tilapia are a lot of fun to catch and when they get over two or three pounds, they are equal to any other freshwater game fish and better than most.


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## huntmaster58 (Oct 1, 2008)

thanks guys, if i catch i will post picts.


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## nammie (Oct 8, 2007)

yeah the water that comes out of the pipe is warm.. they are usually there year round... the biggest one i caught was like 15" long


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## Bozo (Jun 16, 2004)

They like that ****terplant water huh? Good idea of not eating them.


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## nammie (Oct 8, 2007)

your right it is, that is why when i saw some people cast netting some huge ones while i was fishing, i asked them if they are going to eat them. they said yes, then i told them about the plant, but of course as i was walking away i saw them put more into a bucket


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## fin&feather (Jun 24, 2008)

I have a new outlook on these fish after seeing a special on a Nevada whitebass farm. Apparently they transfer all the whitebass waste into another tank and let the Tilapia in it reduce the volume down by 60%... yes this new prime choice to all the snoots is a feces filter thus explaining secrete / logic behind the prime hotspot. If you would like to validate the source try to check out the episode Mike Rowe did on dirty jobs.

Fans of this fish might also appreciate the suggestion of enhancing the flavor with a nice cup of Kopi Luwak coffee.


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## danduhman (Jan 19, 2007)

That pipe that is dicharging into the bayou is comming from that sewer plant on the bank(two octagonal shaped structures shown in areal photo)Nope dont think I would be eating any of them fish:slimer:


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## spitfire (Jan 2, 2007)

That doesn't sound too good!


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## dusbus (Nov 5, 2008)

caught a rude one today at my buddys house in fulshear. it was pure white about 2-3 lbs 18" long, very thick. caught him on a 1/8th ounce chrome rat-l-trap in a golf course pond.


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## floundergigging (Jul 13, 2005)

Looks like you may catch some brown trout flowing out of that pipe.


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## mrgdbar (Aug 16, 2007)

yes eating fish from there is probably not a good idea.... the pipe you are fishing around is an effluent discharge pipe. from the sewer plant beside it... doesnt make catching them any less fun though !


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## Lord of the Salmon (Feb 17, 2008)

And, I suppose none of you guys ever ate flounder caught under the bridge by Pelican Island in galveston. That is a good spot and happens to be where the municipal sewage treatment plant empties.


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## Ditto (Apr 18, 2005)

I can see my friends house in those pictures.


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## Nick Smith (Dec 5, 2007)

The talipia are in the discharge because of the warmth of the water. They die if the temperature goes below about 55 or 60 degrees. They eat plants (uh, mostly - obvious from reading this post regarding what some are caught on that they are not entirely herbivorious.)


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## cameron00 (Mar 6, 2007)

There are millions and millions of tilapia in the drainage ponds in Shadow Creek Ranch in Pearland if anyone is looking for somewhere on the south side of town to fish for them.


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## great white fisherman (Jun 24, 2008)

They must taste like shet? LOL Lake Farfield has a lot of them as it is a power plant lake. I have only heard of catching them in nets.


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## 2slick (Dec 5, 2008)

Martin Lake up in East TX used to have a good supply of Tilapia, but the last few times I fished it, they had killed the vegetation (hydrila) and I didn't see the Tilapia. Folks up that way used to bow hunt them.

As to the fish in the drainage ditch, I guess a little sh!t never hurt nobody, huh?:biggrin:


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## fishingcacher (Mar 29, 2008)

I fished near the pipe yesterday just to see if anything was in there. At first I didn;t see or caught anything so I moved to another spot. After a short while I noticed some dimples in the water so I threw my line over there. I used an artificial worm and caught a blue gill. As it started to get closer to dusk the BG seemed to have moved on. The BG was only about 4 inches. And no I did not keep him and put him/her back into the bayou.


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## Shimanobandit (Sep 26, 2006)

They are vegetarians there are some monsters in Coleto Creek and they won't eat anything. They are stocked in area lakes and ponds to eat certain types of vegetation. I heard that they will eat dough baits. I have tried worms and small flies but they won't even look at them. Good luck finding something to catch them on.


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## Fishin' Soldier (Dec 25, 2007)

I am sure tilapia are opportunistic feeders. If there is plenty of plants they prolly leave the other alone. If the vegatation is going away in a pond, they prolly go out and look for other types of food IE. worms, nymphs, whatever else they can find.


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