What bait works best for fishing tilapia?
Tilapia, also known as African crucian carp, southern crucian carp, Vietnamese fish, Wugu fish, longevity fish, golden phoenix fish, etc., is a freshwater aquaculture fish bred through key scientific research in the global aquaculture industry. It usually lives in freshwater, but can also live in saltwater with varying salinity levels, and can also survive in the shallow water of lakes, rivers and ponds. Now let us take a look at what bait to use for fishing tilapia!
What food do tilapia eat?
Tilapia is a plant-based omnivorous fish. In ponds, the contents of the tilapia digestive tract are mostly organic debris and other plant-based feed (such as aquatic plants, commercial feed, etc.), followed by phytoplankton, zooplankton and a small amount of benthic animals. The growth temperature of tilapia is 16-38 degC. It is a euryhaline fish and can survive in both seawater and freshwater. It tolerates low oxygen and generally inhabits the lower layer of the water, but changes its dwelling depth with changes in water temperature or fish size.
What bait should be used for tilapia?
1. Fishmeal dough bait: Tilapia loves bait with a fishy smell. No matter which kind of fishy food it is, such as octopus powder, shrimp powder, silkworm pupa powder, etc., it loves them all. Take 35% cornmeal (sifted), 35% flour, and 30% fish bait powder, mix them, add water and stir evenly to make steamed corn bread, steam it in a steamer, knead it into dough while hot, and when fishing pinch it into small dough cakes to mount on a small hook (for sea rod fishing). If making it for hand rod fishing, pinch it into a small dough ball and mount it on the hook.
2. Shrimp powder dough bait: Take 60% cornmeal, 20% flour, 10% roasted soybean powder, 10% shrimp powder, and a little brown sugar, add water and stir evenly to make steamed corn bread, steam it in a steamer, take it out and knead it into dough while hot. If using a sea rod for fishing, pinch it into small dough cakes to mount on a group hook or pinch it into small dough balls to mount on a string hook. If using a hand rod for fishing, pinch it into small dough balls to mount on a double hook or single hook.
3. Silkworm pupa powder dough bait: Mix 70% flour, 10% glutinous rice flour, and 20% silkworm pupa powder, add water and stir into a paste, then put it in a pot or iron ladle and simmer over low heat, stirring while simmering, until it becomes thick and sticky enough to be kneaded into small dough balls. Glutinous rice flour is used in this bait because the amount of silkworm pupa powder used is large and silkworm pupa powder contains a lot of water. After a period of use it will become thin and sticky, and it easily falls off when mounted on the hook. Preparing it with glutinous rice flour can enhance the stickiness of the bait, so it is not easy to fall off when mounted on the hook. Especially when fishing for tilapia in summer, any meat bait with high water content will become thin, or turn sour and change smell after being used for a period of time, affecting the fishing effect.
Tilapia fishing techniques
1. Hand rod fishing for tilapia
[Fishing tackle] For hand rod fishing for tilapia, you can choose a 3.6 m or 4.5 m rod, or for reservoirs a 5.4 m fiberglass or carbon hand rod. Use No. 3 high-strength line as the main line, No. 2 as the leader line, and use Iseama No. 7-8 or Maruseigo No. 12-13 fish hooks. You can also use a direct line setup without a leader line, tying the fish hook directly to the lower end of the main line, which is simpler.
[Bait] Two kinds of bait can be used for hand rod fishing for tilapia. One is commercial powder bait (pelleted fish feed is even more suitable), and the other is red earthworm. Once a school of fish enters the nest, immediately use a 3.6 m hard rod and adopt the “three noes” fast fishing method (that is, the hand never leaves the rod, the eye never leaves the float, and the finger never leaves the bait), striving to catch fish as quickly as possible.
2. Sea rod fishing for tilapia
[Fishing tackle] There are two conventional setups for sea rod fishing for tilapia: one is a bomb hook rig, and the other is a string hook rig. A 3 m rod is better, as it is easy to cast with a long string hook and can operate freely at both near and far distances. The fishing reel is spooled with 100 m of 0.3 mm domestic nylon line. Tie a quick-link at the place where the bomb hook is attached. The length of the leader line for the string hook is determined by how many hooks are used. At most 6-8 hooks can be used on a string hook, and the leader line length is fixed at 1-1.2 m.
[Bait] There are many baits for sea rod bomb hook fishing for tilapia, but two baits are commonly used here. One is bran and distiller's grains kneaded into balls, or pelleted feed in grape-hook form for long-distance bottom fishing. The second is earthworm, with one mounted on each hook, and its effect is often better than the former.