Tilapia are an excellent eating fish.We fillet them just like crappie,and they are a flaky white meat.They can be"bowfished" from a boat,but we prefer to"hunt" them while wading and stalking.They are very wary,and with this stealth method ,one can hunt a hole for a long while,and be much more successful, than those bangin' around in a boat,shooting mostly at fast leaving fish.. The best conditions for hunting are clear,sunny days,with no wind,and wear polarized sunglasses. Eddie,I would have loved to get into 7 to 8 pounders,that would be fun.My biggest is 4 pounds,but there is a lake near Bryan-College Station,Tx.,that has a good many fish in the 5-6 pound range,but I have yet to try it. Like Mike said,they are a cichlid,native of the Nile drainage in Africa,and I've heard two stories on their introduction.One is that they were intentionally stocked in power plant lakes to help keep water inlets cleaned of vegatation,the other was they were illegally stocked.I don't know,but they make a interesting and tasty quarry for off season. God Bless