So, as many of you know, I live on a small lake in N Florida. A year or so ago, I started noticing some small Tilapia in the lake. I think these are blue Tilapia. Now I have 2 bedding at my bank that look like they might weigh about 2 pounds each. I tried to cast net them, but couldn’t get a good angle for the net to open correctly, due to weeds and small brush near the bed.

We had a colder winter than some lately, but I saw no dead ones . Some of the ponds around did have some floaters. 
I have heard bad things about Tilapia completely taking over a fishery, and I don’t want that to happen. I have tried to get the word out for the other lake residents to stop with the introduction of any non native fish. 
I will probably end up investing in a fishing bow to try to harvest them if they continue.

What are your experiences and advice on this ?

Pray for some cold, cold weather. I'd contact the State too to get some advice on what to do. Saw them in Houston, TX.  They are bad news. Good Luck.

 

they dont seem to mess with the awesome LMB populations in those Mexican lakes.   and they have a metric ton of Tilapia in them.

Your fellow Florida angler Aaron catches lost of great big bass amongst tilapia. And he catches the tilapia with a rattle trap 

I think the primary concern with Tilapia has to do with carrying capacity.

 

They are prolific spawners, and most likely they'll spawn more times in a year than any other fish in the lake.  They are also mouth brooders so the survival rate for their fry is much greater than other species of fish.  

 

I think it's only a real concern for smaller bodies of water.   

 

ETA:  They're super easy to catch with bread and a smaller bream type hook.   

Pretty sure they use tilapia here as forage for bass ie they deliberately stock them in the lake to spawn like crazy. All that spawning is making big fat bass. 

They mostly eat plant life. 
 

I have caught 1 Tilapia ever on an artificial. A 5 1/2 pounder on a rattletrap. ( pic below)

I can’t fish one much in my lake. It’s just too shallow and weedy.

I fished a friend’s pond and we caught several on bread and fish feed. 
In my lake , and another one I’ve fished , you can drop a bread ball right in front of them, and they won’t touch it. These all look like Blue Tilapia, except maybe the one below. Wouldn’t say Im an expert on the Id of them. 
Still conflicted on the benefits and drawbacks from them.

 

Yesterday I tried to catch the ones on the bed again. I couldn’t get them interested in corn or bread. What I noticed later when I went back to look at them: the tilapia left( saw one swim off).

Then, big bluegill invaded the nest and were eating something with gusto( I assume it was Tilapia fry ) The bluegill were so invested in what they were eating that they wouldn’t bite the normal  baits I catch them with. 
If that’s the way it’s going, we should have nothing to fear with Tilapia. I have millions of bluegills in the lake 😂