Name: Tilapia .
Species: Oreochromis aureus
Thai name: Pla Nin.
Biggest known fish: 13lb 6oz
Lake rod caught record: 13lb 6oz
Average weight: 3lb
Diet: Boilies, pellet, worms, bread, plankton, algae.
To fish for Tilapia in our main lake will take a bit of skill due to their excellent eyesight, they are also a fish that it preyed on them selves as they form a staple diet for a lot of species, this makes them very wary of taking bait. In the top lake it is a little easier due to the volume of fish and competitive feeding nature of the fish that live in there, tilapia confidently breed in both lakes.
The best way to target these fish would be using a light set up, preferably a stick or waggler float, they like to stay in shallower water as they feel more confident of avoiding danger, so fishing close to the margin or hyacinth would be the preferred location.
We would suggest using stick pellet soaked down, it beaks down quickly to replicate a groundbait mix. We would advise a small size hook and small hook bait, either worm threaded on the hook or small pieces of bread pinched around the hook would be perfect, but paste would also work well.
Baiting we would recommend little and often using stick pellet fed around the float which will form a cloud attracting the tilapia and enticing them to feed, using worm or bread on the hook will hopefully tempt them to suck in hook bait as they filter feed through the groundbait mix.
Species Info
The tilapia is an imported species to Thailand and is a member of the Perciformes (perch-like fishes). It shares many of the same recognisable characteristics with the perch found throughout Europe. The tilapia originates from Africa, mainly in Rwanda and Uganda from some of the wildest and inaccessible waters on Earth. The tilapia is a hardy species and in the wild lives on a diet of zooplankton and other aquatic plant matter.
The tilapia is easily recognisable with 7-12 vertical bands found on the cordial fin and has a sharp-spined dorsal fin very similar to that of a European perch.
This tilapia species has a rough feel with a type of armoured scale and a dorsal fin full of sharp barbs, this acts as a good deterrent from any larger predatory fish as they can easily get lodged and stuck in the predators mouth. This fish is commonly found through upper layers feeding on insects, algae and other aquatic vegetation. The tilapia has been widely found throughout Thailand in fisheries and natural reservoirs and is a very popular table fish for the food market.
