Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Are Tilapia good for sport fish?

I havent' heard much about Tilapia as sport fish, but wanted to get opinions here. Do they make good sport fish? How do you catch them on artificials? And will they survive in north Mississippi on the Zone 7-8 line (which is about 50-75 miles south of Memphis)?

Thanks!

I have very little luck catching them when I have tried. I will be interested to see what others say.

I think I recall reading that they are hard to catch on artificals.

Good for sportfish in the forage they produce! I may try some for the first time this summer to see how they do for algae control and producing some forage. I have a supplier now within 20 minutes of me.

I was at an aquaculture convention this weekend talking to a gentlemen from PA. He was telling me about some that got lose from an aquaculture facility at power plant there. They reproduced and the sportsman that fish the river loved them as the game fish sized exploded.

Jig and crawler nub is most reliable method of angling from all I've heard from Bruce and others.

That was 3 Mile Island on the Susquehanna River, the same nuclear power plant that almost had a melt down. They turned the plant off for a couple weeks one winter to kill them all off. No more tilapia in the Susq.

My cousins live in south FL where blue tilapia are rather common. They taught me how to catch them on sweet peas, at least that is the bait they like best. I have seen them caught on other more conventional baits. They do fight good for their size, but I wouldn't call them great game fish. They do taste darn good and are easy to raise, which is why they are raised by the tons as a food fish throughout much of the world.

Poor fish, they go to take a pee, and they wind up as dinner.

Tilapia are an outstanding sport fish!
Traditionalists just don't get it - I have preached this on this forum until I finally gave up...

Change your tackle - your thinking ...

Yes that's what he (Dr. VanGorder) told me too. He said the Penn Game and Fish Commission made them do it to kill them off.

It's hard to catch them on artificials. I haven't seen an artificial lure that mimics algae....

I've caught them on imitation pellets and small pieces of earthworm on a tiny jig or hook under a small bobber.

Fly fishing for them seems to be easier and more successful than other types of tackle.

Their value is algae reduction and forage for other sportfish, not sportfish themselves due to their low catchability rates.

Scott, difficulty in catch rate is the challenge that makes a fish a "sport fish" - of course you know that...
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/13/sports/carp-now-a-worthy-fly-rod-target-in-united-states.html?_r=1

George, I have a feeling you can come up with a FA fly too!

George, please tell us more. I love the size they get, but as soon as a flipped a fly out by them, they scatter and do not come back. I heard that you can use a green fuzz ball as a fly and that might work.

Coach, I am an avid fly angler and like a challenge but I ignore tradition when required - match the hatch to catch tilapia with AQMX 600 PH pellet flies.
We do not target them but catch them occasionally in our 1/4-acre pond where we stock all male tilapia for algae control and not for forage.

There has been much discussion a number of years ago by folks that catch tilapia on a regular basis. You can likely find the posts in the archives - it has been reported that they can be caught on worms, small pieces of leafy vegetables and even cherry tomatoes.

Pellet flies work for all feed trained fish…tilapia are feed trained in the hatchery.
Good luck and have fun with tilapia on the fly!

George, I'm glad that you posted that. How many Male Tilapia do you stock per 1/4 acre to control the algae? Either in #'s of fish or by weight. What size fish did you stock?

We were fishing for perch and caught 2 large males on dead minnows. Also have caught them on blue gill sized bait pieces of night crawlers.

Cecil Baird, I was there at the Aquaculture Meeting also. 1st time ever at any type of get together like this. Very impressive!!!. A lot of knowledge and very friendly people were there. Sorry I didn't get to meet you but I saw your name and topic on the schedule. I was there with Bob Grimm from "Catch Of The Day Fish Farms" and Dennis and Janet Fender from "Fenders Fish and Llama Farms".

Can't wait till next year...........

Scott, normaly about 5lbs for the 1/4 acre pond and best guess is four to a pound.
Overton takes good care of our ponds and I am seldom present when he makes deliveries in the area.

Thanks George. A fellow PB'er wanted to try straight Males in his pond for FA control. He is concentrating on growing large BG and wants his LMB to eat the small BG, not fill up on Tilapia. We were wondering how many to stock because there won't be more mouths to feed on FA (YOY fish).

I think we're going to go even heavier than that stocking rate because he feeds about 100# of food a month in his pond, and there is a high nutrient load from the food. Right now, after ice off, there is a 4'-5' wide band of FA on the windward side of his pond. He's going to keep the Curly Leaf and Sago Pondweed under control, so even more nutrients will be available for FA. We were going to double your stocking rate.

Scott,

I talked to John Metz the grower of Tilapia in our area (Goshen). He says we can get some anytime we want. I was under the impression they were all male but John says 90 percent male. So there may be some reproduction?

I may try some this summer myself. 20 minute drive over to Goshen for me.

Cecil,

If it works for you this spring/summer, I want to set up a time to come and see your in home operation. My house will be done in June, and I plan on starting to build my basement system. Your article was great, but I would love to see the real thing. I will PM you later in the Spring.

I live about 20 mins from TMI "Three Mile Island" and still catch Tilapia every summer while cat fishing. Let me tell ya, they got some MONSTER CC right at the warm water discharge have not seen any glowing green lately :)One of my friends actually caught a 3lbs Oscar "tropical fish" It is some of the best fishing in central PA.

Yeah sorry we didn't meet but I was interested in so many of the presentations I didn't do much socializing. I also skipped the banquet and hit the sack early.

I'm hoping we will have a tri-state meeting in Indiana next year and may even entice some folks from Michigan to come down.

Sure. Maybe we can confound my dad who is here for the summer when I introduce you as Mr. Baird.

Cecil, My loss. I'll try to catch you next year... Presentations were excellent. A lot of tilapia discussion even at lunch and the banquet. There was some interesting discussion on fresh water prawns also.

Anyway, Hope to meet you next year.