I've been fishing alot in a neighborhood pond and I come across tilapia beds all the way around the edge of the pond. I've managed to foulhook a few with lipless crankbaits and such but I wanted to know if theres a consistent way to catch them. I obviously don't want to eat them considering they come out of a retention pond but they are alot of fun to catch and some of them can be quite large.

They like carbs, bread. You can also try the small jigs they sell at walmart. 

Those fish are very very shy. I have seen them in the canals and in the glades. They get pretty big. They are bedding right now. If I am not mistaken they are vegetarian. 

Try bread and small fly looking lures. Like little jigs.

When I was a kid me and a neighbor targeted these fish. We started with snagging them on trebel hooks but we found floating bread worked best. This is how we would do it.

Take a slice of white bread. Tear the guts out of it into small pieces like if you were trying to feed blue gills. Then use the crust as your bait. Dont use any weight. Tie on a sturdy hook and fold the crust around the hook lightly. just enough it sticks together. (Its like a mini hook sandwich)

It should float. The fish should start chowing down on the guts and when he finds the crust he wont think twice about you or the line.

Sometimes we couldnt catch them on bread. But putting anything in their bed will probably give you a chance to get a bite. Small jig sounds like a good idea.

They are good eating too.