Thread: South Florida Spring Panfishing

the one time I went after tilapia I found out them things will fin the fire out of ya and are hard to handle .
looks like a fun trip
KABOOM is the word

Off topic, but exactly when does a pond become big enough to be called a lake?

That is like asking, what is a creek, brook, stream and river. But agree, that there should be a size, maybe based on acreage, at the least.

Thanks for sharing the video with us.

Originally Posted by Ketchn

the one time I went after tilapia I found out them things will fin the fire out of ya and are hard to handle .
looks like a fun trip
KABOOM is the word

First one I caught got me pretty bad too. Lesson learned.

Probably a retension pond built to contain storm runoff within that community.
Lots of them thruout Florida, with some being very large.
I was surprised recently at seeing quite a few what i thought to be Bluegill beds at one near my home which isnt very large, maybe an acre or so, and also less than 5 years old.
Many of these are fenced and off limits, but could well be good places for shore bound fishermen.
I suppose with all the billboards along the highways for the trip and fall lawyers, thats not apt to change.

Thanks for the video, good stuff for short trips. Some of the tilapia get large, but I haven’t found the magic to catch one yet.

The magic touch from what ive seen, is being in the right place and being good with cast net.
Even being not very good can yield some impressive results right from the bank.
I watched a guy who wasent that good at all, catch probably 50 with no more than 6 throws with about an 8’ net which he couldnt get to open up well. Like me, he would have been better off with a smaller net. But he got enough to fill a pretty large Igloo cooler. In the small town of Fellsmere there are 2 baitshops on opposite ends of the town.
The one, called the bait bucket is owned by a very nice hispanic guy who originally came here as a fruit picker.
In addition to selling bait, he makes very nice custom nets. The best size for Tilapia according to him is a 1” mesh.
He told me that he has caught 50 with one throw, so many that he couldnt retreive the net without some help.
Ive also been told including by him, that they will on occaision take a worm while your fishing for bluegills.
I would think probably grass shrimp also.
The one in that video dosent look much like the ones ive seen down this way.

Originally Posted by yobuck

Ive also been told including by him, that they will on occaision take a worm while your fishing for bluegills.
I would think probably grass shrimp also.
The one in that video dosent look much like the ones ive seen down this way.

The one in the video above is a spotted tilapia, pretty common down in the Fort Lauderdale area. The other common tilapia down here is the blue tilapia. I believe that one is more widespread and is probably the one you're used to seeing. Here's one I caught on a beetle spin. It sure surprised me since they're not known to go after lures.

Originally Posted by yobuck

The magic touch from what ive seen, is being in the right place and being good with cast net.
Even being not very good can yield some impressive results right from the bank.
I watched a guy who wasent that good at all, catch probably 50 with no more than 6 throws with about an 8’ net which he couldnt get to open up well. Like me, he would have been better off with a smaller net. But he got enough to fill a pretty large Igloo cooler. In the small town of Fellsmere there are 2 baitshops on opposite ends of the town.
The one, called the bait bucket is owned by a very nice hispanic guy who originally came here as a fruit picker.
In addition to selling bait, he makes very nice custom nets. The best size for Tilapia according to him is a 1” mesh.
He told me that he has caught 50 with one throw, so many that he couldnt retreive the net without some help.
Ive also been told including by him, that they will on occaision take a worm while your fishing for bluegills.
I would think probably grass shrimp also.
The one in that video dosent look much like the ones ive seen down this way.

You can catch and keep them from a cast net? Considered an invasive I am assuming?