Does anyone know of any good tilapia imitation baits? Over the past few days I have noticed that a pond I fish at is loaded with them. There are some BIG bass in this pond, and I have a hunch that they feed on these things alot. By the way the pond is very shallow, so deep diving baits arent much of an option....

www.mattlures.com has Tilapia swimbaits. I am taking a couple with me to El Salto next month. Look under Bluegill series.

It might well be a good idea to check what species of tilapia is found in the lake you plan to fish before ordering your imitations.

The tilapia that frequents the reservoirs I fish is mostly Oreochromis aurea, with a small number of Oreochromis niloticus (which is though far more widespread in the US). The O. niloticus is exactly similar to the tilapia swimbait produced by Matt, yet the male bluegill swimbait is a far better imitation for O. aurea, since the latter species sports quite a bit of blue, gold, and orange in the same body areas as the bluegill.

In addition to the swimbaits, I have found that the bluegill color of Rapala DT10 and DT16, as well as the bluegill Rattling Rapala look amazingly similar to the tilapia and work wonders when bass concentrate on the tilapia.