World Record Tilapia Reeled in St. Lucie River

Tilapia - Not the record breaking fish

The black depths of the St. Lucie River’s South Fork have really been making waves, and provided quite a catch for an angler.

This past Tuesday evening, Pamela Henry was having a nice quiet time fishing from her dock on the waterway. As she was lazily tossing balls of dough into the water, some of which had peanut butter, she gazed upon a myriad of different kinds of fish which fought over them. However, after repeatedly seeing the mouth of a big “snapper-like looking fish,” Henry thought it was high time to grab a pole and try her luck.

“I just grabbed the first rod I could find and it ended up being one of my old spinning outfits,” commented Henry. “It had 20-pound test line and no leader, but I was going to catch that fish.”

Henry opted to use a soft dough ball for the bait – as she explained that the fish don’t like hard balls- and cast her line into the water, complete with a bobber made of styrofoam.

Reeling in Tilapia with a rod is not an easy thing to accomplish, Henry explained. First of all, they are vegetarians, but secondly, there is something off about the way they feed.

“You have to be patient with a tilapia. They suck in the bait, then spit it out again before they really eat it,” she went on to explain.

Well all her patience paid off, as she reeled in a whopper of a Tilapia, weighing in at 9 pounds, 6 ounces. By all accounts it’s a record breaker.. Congratulation Pamela!