A friend of mine forwarded an email to me about spearfishing for tilapia. I know that tilapia is an invasive species and that no limit exists under the TPWD regs. I also know that it is very tasty. Anyone done this in the past? If so, where is a good place to go?

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I also know that it is very tasty.

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I disagree. I think it is the most overrated lame ass fish out there.

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I think it is the most overrated lame ass fish out there.

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+100

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I disagree. I think it is the most overrated lame ass fish out there.

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Concur. Have no idea how it got to be such a "fad" food fish.

marketing

Its not "great", but it is good. As good as any bass. The current prices should reflect that unless you are getting hosed...

Would also be interested in tearing some up with some spears...

Tilapia is easy to grow in the USA and most other places, so they got marketed bigtime as a replenishable farm fish.

That's how they got loose all over Texas. They love it here. They are an invasive that will disturb the nesting of native fish at times, and are otherwise somewhat harmless.

Not only CAN you kill them at will, you are SUPPOSED to disembowel them if you catch one, so they die.

They are about as tasty as any similar sunfish or bass. Nothing super special, but still good eating. They eat some of the same stuff in the same waters, so they taste the same.

There's a cool posting of some guys over on TKF that spear fished a bunch of big ones near Austin.

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They are about as tasty as any similar sunfish or bass.

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I have never had any bass that was as bad as the best tilapia I've ever had.

They are a marvelous species from an aquaculture perspective... easy to farm, easy on the environment, healthy to eat, etc.

I've had tilapia that cooked up pretty good. I think well prepared crappie or striper blow tilapia's doors off, though.

I'm not sure what it is about it but I just find it blah. Very little flavor. Maybe my body produces some anti-tilapia enzymes or something but it would honestly of all the fresh water fish I have ever eaten be my least favorite. Keep in mind however I have not eaten mud cat, gar, carp, or goo so tilapia stands a chance to rise up that list. Maybe.

Tell us how you feel about Talapia, MasterAg...

Well you see....

I've heard of bowfishing and castnetting for them but not spearing.

If you're ever at the San Antonio Zoo, there are literally hundreds of jumbo tilapia in the waterway.

I must have the same enzymes as Master. It's so-so but nothing special and all I ever hear is people rave about how good it is.

we use to bowhunt em at amistad, use to be ton of them in the shallows down from the dam

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Have no idea how it got to be such a "fad" food fish.

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Asked

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Tilapia is easy to grow in the USA

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Answered

By "fad", I meant a reputation of being delicious and the "choice fish" of many. Maybe I'm the only one who seems to know tons of people who rave about this stuff.

Ag83, my reply is dead serious. Growers found cheap, easy and fairly ok (just ok) tasting fish and though "well hell boys, here's our chance." Add a spiffy NYC marketing firm (or whatever) and PRESTO! A new "delicacy"...which just happens to sound exotic too!

We were cleaning fish last weekend at Amistad and 3 or 4 guys come up with stringers of about 100 tilapia as we were leaving. They took them with a bow in shallow water. Our guide was telling us something about the fact that they only eat off vegetation and that you cannot catch them by fishing with bait.

If ya'll think tilapia, bass and perch taste good, you should try tuna, wahoo and mahi.

Trident, those are really unrelated... I think you just listed 3 of my favs with Tuna, Wahoo, and Mahi... but Talapia, bass, and perch are all good as well. Yes, not as good, but look at the price difference between those 2 groups.

Pan fried perch is pretty dang tasty though...

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MouthBQ98
posted 3:05p, 04/21/09



I've had tilapia that cooked up pretty good. I think well prepared crappie or striper blow tilapia's doors off, though.

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I'll second that. However, I've only breaded and fried crappie. Striper/white/hybrids I've fried, broiled, and even grilled a whole striper/hybrid and it's damn good.

The only way I've ever cooked tilapia fillets is to give it a good rub with either lemon-pepper or Tony Chachere's, get my cast-iron skillet smoking hot with a little bit of olive oil and sear it on each side for about a minute. I'll admit that because tilapia is so mild that it takes on a lot of the seasoning but it still tastes damn good.

One key is to take the fish out of the skillet and set it on a cooling rack set over a baking sheet to catch the draining oil and covered with foil for a few minutes to give it a nice crust on the outside but still tender & flaky on the inside.

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tuna, wahoo and mahi

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don't forget about their friend, snapper!

I do some spear fishing... Use a sea striker the same pole I use for flounder gigging!

I found this on another forum:

http://www.texaskayakfisherman.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=118495