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A Rose Snapper By Any Other Name

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By FRANK SARGEANT | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 4, 2008

Tilapia are not even supposed to be here, but like many other aquarium escapees, they are now found in just about every lake and river across the southern two-thirds of Florida. The fish originally came from Africa, where there are at least a half-dozen varieties. It also has been imported by American fish farmers, some of whom sell it as "rose snapper."

They look like an oversized bluegill, and some reach impressive sizes, up to 8 pounds or so. Most of the year they are nearly invisible; they rarely take conventional baits or lures, so many anglers are not aware of them.

For the next two to three months, however, tilapia will make themselves obvious as they dig their spawning beds along the shorelines. In some lakes, there are literally thousands of the 12- to 18-inch-wide, bowl-shaped beds, making it very clear exactly where and how many of the invaders there are.

Fortunately, they don't seem to do any harm to native species such as largemouths, though perhaps they do compete somewhat for space in prime bedding areas. Bass, on the other hand, have been shown to do quite a bit of damage to tilapia; they readily gulp them down, as do snook when tilapia are found in coastal rivers.

Tilapia are mostly algae eaters, which is why they're not often caught on hook and line. Some anglers catch them, legally, with a cast net tossed over the beds. But biologists say the species does occasionally take grass shrimp, minnows and other animate foods. As a result, a few anglers are gradually figuring out ways to catch them.

For years, one of the best hook-and-line spots in the state for tilapia was the pond at Webb Wildlife Management Area near Port Charlotte. There, feeders run by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission were set to broadcast commercial fish pellets into the pond each morning, and the tilapia had gotten on to the schedule. They showed up by the dozens to eat the pellets, and some of the fish grew huge from the heavy diet.

Tricky Business

The trick to catching them, devised by state biologist Tom Champeau and others, was to tie a fly that looked exactly like a fish-food pellet. Champeau made them out of bits of foam, which he painted a light tan, and rigged them with tiny size 10 to 12 hooks. Cast among the floating chow on a light tippet, the fake food was readily gulped down by the fish. Of course, that tactic worked only around a feeder. But other anglers have learned that it's possible to catch tilapia on a variety of other baits with a bit of patience.

Cooked, flash-frozen green peas are a favorite bait among some anglers who fish the Tampa By-Pass Canal. A couple of the peas are slipped on a size 10 hook, and the bait is fished in the bed unweighted on 6-pound-test line, often under a small cork.

Live grass shrimp are also pretty good tilapia bait. They can be netted by scooping a fine-mesh net under floating duckweed and other shoreline vegetation. They look like a miniature version of common saltwater white shrimp, but never exceed an inch long. Again, tiny hooks and minimal weight are a must.

Tilapia also sometimes eat red worms, of the type commonly fished for shellcrackers in our area a bit later into spring. Some anglers even report pretty good catches of the critters on tiny Beetle Spin lures, cranked very slowly, just off bottom as they pass through the beds.

The fish average 2 pounds or so, but 4-pounders are not uncommon.

A Challenging Species

Tilapia are powerful fighters thanks to their bulldog shape, so they can be a real challenge on the light line that's often needed to entice a bite.

(They look a good bit like the Nile Perch and are sometimes confused with it, but we apparently do not have any true Nile Perch escapees in state waters at this time. That's a good thing, because they are a highly predatory species and reach more than 100 pounds.)

Finding lakes that hold the fish is usually not a problem.

They have spread across most of the state, perhaps via transfer of eggs on the feet of wading birds. They're often found in lakes with no connection to larger waterways, so natural migration is not the only factor at work in their spread.

Though tilapia are bottom feeders, they don't seem to be afflicted with the muddy taste that's common to carp and sometimes catfish. Tilapia are outstanding on the table, with firm, white flesh that works well for any sort of recipe.

There is no closed season, and no size or bag limit.

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