More Tilapia Lures for Mexican Largemouth Bass

Nov 29

largemouth bass at Lake El Salto frequently choke on big tilapia

While I’m not a big believer in precision paint jobs at El Salto and Picachos – instead preferring standard patterns like Citrus Shad – I recognize that some of you are true believers. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to get every little edge you can muster in search of a Double Digit or the day of a lifetime, so if you believe that tilapia-themed patterns will work better South of the Border, then by all means fish your confidence baits. With that in mind, I’ve previously outlined multiple commonly-found lures that are labeled as such.

6th Sense Lures draw glide bait in Tilapia pattern — Recently, I noticed that Texas company 6th Sense (which I mentioned in the last article on this topic) came out with a 9-inch glide bait called the “Draw,” and that it comes in a tilapia pattern. Indeed, they have multiple swimbaits and crankbaits that fit the bill. They seem to be getting increasingly popular and available, too.

Tilapia Phat Lab Nekosogill from Carolina Fishing Tackle — A JDM big bait option is the Phat Lab Nekosogill, which is available from specialty retailers like Carolina Fishing Tackle. It’s 4 ¾ inches long and weighs 2 ounces. In addition to the Tilapia paint scheme it comes in a wide variety of color patterns, including both gaudy options and naturalistic versions like Piranha (Amazon peacock bass, anyone?) and Gill.

Tilapia Smashtech line-thru bluegill soft swimbait — If a soft swimbait is what you’d prefer, check out Smashtech’s Bluegill Line-Thru, 5 ½ inches long in the tilapia pattern. It’s airbrushed to look realistic and comes with an Owner Stinger Treble Hook.

Tilapia XCite XB-1 crankbait — 6th Sense isn’t the only crankbait manufacturer that’s exploiting this opportunity. My friend Lloyd Walker, owner of Texas company XCite Lures, has added a tilapia paint scheme to his XB-1 square bills.

rapala dt20 custom painted tilapia pattern — If you scour eBay, particularly some European retailers, you can occasionally find Rapala DT20s in a pattern meant to look like Mexico’s favorite freshwater food fish. That’s a great crankbait in any color, so if you can’t find this one, you might want to get some custom-painted.

Taylor Man's Custom Lures spinnerbait and reciprocator — It’s not just hard baits, either. Taylor Man’s Custom Lures has a slightly different and bolder tilapia representation, available in both spinnerbaits and their Reiprocator bladed football jigs.

Tilapia Ohio Pro Lure buzzbait — Don’t tell the folks at Ohio Pro Lure that there aren’t any surviving tilapia in the Buckeye State’s waters. They may have misspelled “tilapia” as “tilapa,” but that’s still a very nice looking buzzbait, whether your forage base is tilapia, shad or crappie.

TIlapia Oldham hitchhiker jig for Mexican and South Texas bass — Finally, Terry Oldham of Wimberley, Texas, who has probably spent more time designing baits for Mexican bass than anyone alive, has a sexy jig pattern that he calls “Talapia.” My friend TJ Maglio gave me some of Oldham’s 1 ounce spinnerbaits a few years ago and I’ve found them to be not only productive, but also highly durable in my travels to El Salto, Picachos and Falcon.

If nothing else, this selection shows that there are lots of different ways to represent a tilapia in luremaking. If you think that one represents the baitfish on the lake/s where you’re headed, and you think it makes a difference, stock up and get bit.

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