Tilapia

[wrip109]

Ok, so I have bought my first fly rod and it looks strange sitting amongst all my other fresh water type rods. I have never actually used it yet - but today is the day!

I have read and read and then read some more about fly fishing; How to cast, how to catch fish and how to everything else.

I have fished in fresh water for fifty years but not with a fly. I have caught bass and yellowbelly to my record of 55 cms and Tilapia to 2 Kilos(Don't know why I suddenly switch to weight instead of length).

Now I have a whole new life because as from today I am a fly fisherman!

Today I will catch a fish! (even if it is a cat fish) but what I really want is Tilapia. I am going to a dam which I know contains Tilapia and from my previous life I know the habitat so I can almost go right to them.

After all that comes the question... Has anybody tried to target tilapia (Catching by mistake does not count) and would you mind giving a beginner some tips?

Presuming I can actually cast the fly [it looks easy doesn't it :) ], what sort of fly should I use? Dry? Wet? Big, small?

I guess it is cheating if I put a worm on the fly?

So many questions, but Tilapia have to be the best fighters in the world. They fight pound for pound better than any fish I know including bass.

Wow! What will a 2 kilo tilapia be like on my new fly rod I wonder? (Might be old fly rod by the time I actually catch one)

Phil
(Excited like a two year old again)

[atlantic_salmon]

Phil, i would not have a clue mate, but sounds like a bag of laughs, i would suggest any small baitfish profile, if you know what they feed on use the old fly fishing adage "match the hatch", do they have a hard mouth??? ( i still dont have a clue ) if so a barbless hook will penetrate far deeper when you strip strike...

best of luck mate and put on a photo when you get one so i at least know what they look like...

[wrip109]

There you go...

[wrip109]

Well, it's not exacactly a tilapia but it's my first fish on fly. I am not sure if it was my skill or the fish was starving to death. But its a fish!

Casting is not as easy as it looks but I can consistently cast 15 feet and every now and again I can get 30 feet but must admit I can also, every now and again, cast a huge 6 feet.

This is great fun! When I get the feeling back into my arm I will try again.

Phil

[wessel]

Well done,

Wessel

[matuka]

Phil

A few years back a couple of mates and I were practising fly casting up at North Pine. As we wandered back to our cars at Bullocky's Rest we noticed that half of the population of Saigon (sorry Ho Chi Minh City) had gathered along the banks and were catching Tilapia by the hundreds. They were using every manner of gear you could imagine from small spinning outfits to Snapper gear to 14 foot surf rods. As a fish was caught it was thrown up the bank and gathered into Eskies by the women and kids who then carried them up to their cars and emptied them straight into the boot.

We thought we had to have a go at this so we checked out what they were using for bait - worms. We looked through our fly boxes and while we had nothing that approached a worm fly we decided that anything red would be worth trying. We tied sinking leaders onto our floating lines, joined the picket line and fished red flies. We caught heaps of Tilapia and dutifully threw them up the bank where they were quickly scooped up into the Eskies with all the rest.

You could see that our new best friends thought we were stark raving mad using this absurd tackle and throwing away perfectly good tucker!

Over the next few months we caught a lot more, anywhere from Bullocky's up to the cemetery end of the dam.

The fly we finally settled on was christened "The Red Terror". It was basically a Woolly Bugger with a scarlet chenille body, hot orange marbou tail, hot orange hackle tied on a long shank #6. Some of them were tied with bead heads.

We caught fish up to about 2 kgs and you're right - they can really put up a fight.

Matuka

[wrip109]

Hi Matuka

I know exactly where you mean. I have caught heaps at that very spot on extremely light gear. Unfortunately the water is now only a few inches deep and the Tilapia have moved on to goodness knows where.

Hummm, red hey, betcha I will have some red flies by the weekend.

(You should try eating them. The law is very strict with tilapia and they HAVE to be killed, but I contacted the DPI and eating the fillets is not a problem. They are either very muddy or the nicest eating fish in the world)

Phil

[ward]

Hi Phil
I am just a new member but thought I might add we use size 12 nymphs in Townsville which seem to work, also DPI up here have told us not to even feed the cat with them but must be disposed of in a bin or away from the water way without really transporting? weird hey
Ward