I've caught about 3 tilapia my whole life but I know they fight like hell. I've been seeing a lot of spawning tilapia but they dont seem to want anything i have and they wont even protect their nests, they just run off as soon as I drop something near them. Anyone have any suggestions on how to hook one, I'm more of an artificial guy but I'll take suggestions on live bait as well, or I think I once heard bread balls. Anyone have experience with catching them.
I've been seeing a lot of tilapia spawning, anyone know how to catch them?
- Thread starter fhawk362
- Start date
Most tilapia are mouth brooders so the nest doesn't need defending. The nest just serves as a place to mate. The male will hang out at his nest until a female or group of females swims by. Then he will try to attract a mate and lead her back to his nest. She will lay some eggs, he fertilizes them, and then she will take them in her mouth. They will repeat this until she has a mouth full of eggs. She will sometimes hang out with the male (depending on the species) but she will usually swim off.
They are mostly vegitarian but will take some lures. The best bait is anacharis or similar aquatic plants. http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=768+780&pcatid=780
To find out what they really like, examine the plants that are in the lake. Then examine the plants from nearby ponds, ditches, etc. that do not have tilapia. The plants that are in the ponds and ditches that are NOT in the tilapia lake are the ones that the tilapia like. They ate their favorites to oblivion and keep them mowed down. (You probably won't find their favorite food in their lake.)
Next, get some of their favorite food and wire some onto a hook. Make it look natural and give it a toss out there. They aren't huge biters, but I'm thinking of chumming with some anacharis blended into a puree.
They are mostly vegitarian but will take some lures. The best bait is anacharis or similar aquatic plants. http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=768+780&pcatid=780
To find out what they really like, examine the plants that are in the lake. Then examine the plants from nearby ponds, ditches, etc. that do not have tilapia. The plants that are in the ponds and ditches that are NOT in the tilapia lake are the ones that the tilapia like. They ate their favorites to oblivion and keep them mowed down. (You probably won't find their favorite food in their lake.)
Next, get some of their favorite food and wire some onto a hook. Make it look natural and give it a toss out there. They aren't huge biters, but I'm thinking of chumming with some anacharis blended into a puree.
I have caught them in mass with earthworms all except Mozambique which have never been able to get to bite but the other types IF they are biting hit earthworms.
Lures I never had any show interest in. Some types will not hit during mating season. I don't know if they eat during that time .
Lures I never had any show interest in. Some types will not hit during mating season. I don't know if they eat during that time .
aussiemonsters;4044003; said:
Maybe its me or the areas I fish but here the Mozambique seem reluctant to bite anything . I have read other posts like yours saying they strike better in Australia. I don't know why.
The big males during breeding season with those huge lips certainly are impressive and weird looking.
Louie;4044026; said:
The mossambicus here are a hybrid they vary a bit not all have the big lips.
When they are active they will take all kinds of lures crankbaits spinnerbaits even small topwaters, pic is of one taken on a spinnerbait I think this one is a female though other pic is a male . Most people fish worms under a float but unweighted on a small hook is my prefered method.
http://www.myfwc.com/WILDLIFEHABITATS/Nonnative_FW_Tilapia.htm
These are the guys, they dont hit anything. And I dont want to eat them so castnet isnt worth it, I just want the fight.
These are the guys, they dont hit anything. And I dont want to eat them so castnet isnt worth it, I just want the fight.
fhawk362;4045635; said:
I have caught many of them however they do not hit when mating. They seem to gather in groups than break away in pairs.
I saw them today while fishing during lunch by canal and they ignored what they usually hit which is earthworms.
I am no expert on them but pretty sure they spawn before most cichlids and spawning now while the rest of the bunch spawn bit later in the summer.
The Mozambique do spawn later but blue talipia spawn when day temps average 80 which is now.
They actually strike pretty good but not during mate selection time which I think is now .
After they spawn and fry bit bigger they hit earthworms easy so you might have to wait. They just seem not to eat certain time of yr during mating and seems like a few weeks maybe a month they dont strike .
I agree catching with hook is better than cast net as far as fun goes.
aussiemonsters;4044111; said:
Yes bottom is a male. I tried spinner and top water lures plus earthworms which is my fool proof talipia bait and shrimp chunks.
I can not get them to hit for anything regardless of time of yr . Red Midas cichlids and Mozambique have been a pain for me trying to get them to hit.