Hit Blue Lake a couple weeks ago but havent got around to posting the report till now. I have been wanting to go out there for long time and finally did it. I was specifically targeting tilapia at the smaller "bluegill pond." Overall the drive was worth it , the dirt road was in pretty bad shape and was a very rough ride. when we arrived we had the whole place to ourselves and the silence was almost eerie. It was very quite and peaceful. It was a warmer weekend so there was still a lot of bugs but we came prepared with spray. they were still "bugging" us though (bad pun sorry). We caught over 60 fish but not very many were worth keeping (size wise). we ended up catching a few that had some size and the smaller ones were killed per DWR orders. it was a lot of fun catching all those fish even though they were small, they really fight for such a small fish. we were using 3/16 oz jig heads tipped with crawlers and fished it with a reel and stop retrieve. we went through 3 batches of crawlers between my brother and i. those fish are thieves just like bluegill. i want to make it out there again on the winter when all the bugs are gone. do any of you guys know if these fish get any bigger or this about the average size?
[signature]
Nice catch! :-)
[signature]
[cool][#0000ff]You did not have a ruler beside your fish for accurate sizing, but I am guessing that most of them were under 10 inches. There are definitely bigger tilapia in that lake. But the larger they get the more difficult they are to catch. If you were dragging a heavy jig head on the bottom with a piece of worm on it, the bigger fish were ignoring it. Better to fish them with a tiny (1/32 oz.) jig tipped with a tiny piece of worm. Their natural food in there includes very small aquatic beetles along with vegetable material. Big lures and unnatural presentations don't catch as many fish. Sometimes a small size 6 hook with just an inch of crawler...and no weight...is the way to catch the larger fish. That settles slowly to the bottom and suspends when you raise it up to move it. But, you have to watch your line, rather than waiting for a hard hit. It will just twitch and you have to set the hook.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]You can also do well with the same unweighted hook below a SMALL bobber. Tilapia can be just like crappies...light bite. Also...try baiting the hook with a green pea...frozen/thawed is better than canned. Tilapia are mainly herbivores and will slurp dough balls and peas. Too bad corn is illegal. It works in some areas. But, a bit of crawler works almost everywhere.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]The tilapia in the large pond get much bigger. Not as many of them and they get fed by the divers. That canned Cheeze Whiz fattens them up good, but they don't hit anglers' jigs or baits as much as the smaller fish in the bluegill pond.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I haven't been out there for a couple of years myself. It is possible that there is an abundance of the smaller fish, from a good spawn last year...or that the fish have started stunting from an overabundance. But, two years ago there were plenty of tilapia from 12" to 14" that went over a pound and had nice fillets. Good eating.[/#0000ff]
[signature]
Nice catch. Looks like fun![cool]
[signature]
i will have to try the smaller jig and the veggies, thanks for the tips. there really was are a lot of small fish in there (bluegill pond) i could visually see tons of schools. i will try it out again probably in late november and give you all a report. and you are right most of the fish were around 10"...
[signature]
Great report! I've been meaning to get out there. Looks like if you go out, you're almost sure to catch fish.
[signature]