I accidently found a sweet spot for Tilapia.

I was fishing for bream with bits of worm and caught a couple very nice size Tilapia.  

Other than bits of worm what do you Tilapiamasters use as bait to catch these delicious ciclids.

I have a neighbor who uses a cane pole, live worm and a bobber and catches a lot of them in our canal.

I use a crappie jig but it is not nearly as effective as the live worm, tilapia are no where near as aggressive as the mayans.

missouri minnows work well. i know a guy that uses grass shrimp.

If they are Tilapia in the 1# and up range I use a #2 gold aberdeen hook and a bread ball about the size of a gumball from those quarter machines.  I usually chum with some bread for a little to get them in a feeding frenzy and just toss out the ball and wait for the bite.  Usually catch some monster bluegill and some bug Mayan cichlids also with this setup.  Hope this helps but I would never eat anything from any Florida freshwater too much fertilizer and chemical runoff in our waters just my $.02

If the tilapia you got there are the Tilapia rendalli you can catch them using lures! You should try to use ultralight tackle and a 1/16oz white Worden's Sonic Rooster Tail or a 1/16oz panter martin spiner.

they are too skiddish to catch! from my experience

Avid we have some Tilapia in the Salton sea and surounding canals.

Small pieces of worms is our best bait. Tilapia is one of my favorite eating fish. I just wish they were closer, I would keep my freezer full

Small pieces of night crawlers or any meat produces well.

A tiny 1.5" gold/black floating rapala using a ultra light spinning rod with 6# test line. It will catch bass, brim, cichlids, etc

http://ag.arizona.edu/azaqua/ista/nutrition.htm

Caught a tournament winning one with a piece of hotdog on a snail hook under a float =)

Caught a tournament winning one with a piece of hotdog on a snail hook under a float =)

no you didn't  :

Such a thing as a tilapia tourney?

lmfao swear my life on it check the tournament section got a pic =)  and no it was a bass fishing tournament but heaviest tilapia was also a (if ya happen to) category

i was told tilapia was a vegeterian fish?!

someone else also said to use the round cat food with a hole in the middle (kind of like a mini donut), I never tried to catch any but I know i pay like $10 for a bag of tilapia at Sam's club