Sarchasim,
There have been several posts on this topic stating varying results. I'm of the opinion that Tilapia behavior is very dependent on what else is in the pond with them. A pond without predators and without BG, in my experience, produces lots of small Tilapia that are catchable by most standard BG methods...worms, corn, crickets, etc. A pond with BG and predators offers the most difficult setting for catching Tilapia. The Tilapia are shy because of predation and simply can not or will not often beat the BG to the bait. We usually catch one nice Tilapia to about 20 to 25 BG when fishing with bait in this setting...enough to spike your interest, but not enough to really justify fishing for them.
The limited success I've had targeting Tilapia exclusively in ponds, which also contain BG and lots of predators, has been in the fall, when the water begins to cool. At that time, the technique that has worked is to attract the Tilapia into very shallow water (warmed by the afternoon sun) and away from the BG and any predators. In that situation, I've literally caught them on every cast using just about any reasonable bait and even flys (nymphs). To set up this situation, range cubes placed in the shallow water area 30 minues or so before fishing seems to work the best...and augmented with ocassional light chuming with pellets.
Water temps in the low 70s also seem to be best for pulling this off(a day or so after a cool front which provides night temps that fall into the 40s). I wish I could say it works every time but it doesn't for me...but when it works, you can catch more Tilapia than you want to clean. The water conditions are on the way for this technique and when it gets right, I'll be out there trying to stock the freezer with these delicious fish. Good luck!
