Targeting tilapia

What bait or lures would be most productive? I caught one on a small piece of night crawler while sunfishing. They normally eat algae don’t they? Would something like a dough bait be better?

I've heard of people using small pieces of bread . I use a cast net they make good bait cut or alive. A 6 to 8 inch tilapia on the jug lines at Falcon can get sum big fish.

Threads in the past tell of folks catching a lot of tilapia at Squaw Creek using a bobber and night crawlers.

Night crawler or little green peas.

Night crawlers under a bobber is what I’ve heard the most. Heard of bread too but I am interesting the idea of using peas.

I know big bass like tilapia on Falcon! I found one about 24” long with probably a 10-12” one stuck in its mouth. Unfortunately it was dead already.

Might eat some, will definitely use for catfishing jugs and rod and reel cats and gator gar. They are fun to catch on light gear though so that’s why I’m asking!

Thanks for the input!

I catch a lot of Tilapia and have always used live night crawlers.

I’ve caught a couple of better ones on woolly buggers, but it was sheer luck to get them. People get them on nymphs like someone might use for trout. My daughter used to net the tiny mosquito fish, the little minnows often in lakes right next to the shore, and get tilapia on those fished alive or fresh dead on tiny hooks. She would then use the live tilapia and get Largemouth bass and catfish on those. She caught a really nice 22# channel catfish on a live tilapia and caught some nice bass on live tilapia.

My son got a 35# blue cat on a live tilapia that was about a pound. I cast net caught that tilapia. I thought that tilapia was a little too big for bait, but I told my son the if we get anything, it’s sure to be something big.

The winter of 2018 all but wiped out tilapia on the private lake I live on, but evidently some remnant population survived. Bass and catfish gorge on the cold water stunned and sluggish tilapia and we had some tremendously fat bass and catfish that winter and spring. This year, the bass have been pretty skinny. The tilapia in the boat was caught on the fly.

If you can cast net them, I’d do that. One good throw and your bait needs are set. Sometimes, it’s hard to find a suitable spot to toss a net.

I hold several records for tilapia and I have tried almost everything to catch them. I even put a story about learning to catch them in my book, The Art of Fishing for Records. Earthworms are the best all-around bait, but if you want the really big ones use a small piece (about the size of your thumbnail) of cut-bait on a small stout hook. Usually I catch them on the bottom but a bobber will also work.

Worms are the best bait to catch em.

Earthworms worked for us

I heard those little wax worms you buy at the pet store for lizards kill em. I was just told this. I caught nothing, but then nobody did.

Thanks for the input everyone. I’ll update one of these days on my results.

Hey garbow! Nice kid and fish. You still down here at Falcon?

No sir sorry !!