Very Nice

That sounds so strange, Tilapia in the desert. Amazing, it is strange that in South Africa and states North Tilapia are caught on the Fly, but here in the States where they are found they are difficult to catch, according to reports in the past.

My understanding is that when mature Tilapia are almost exclusively vegetarian. The younger ones however are voracious eaters of larvae/pupae. in many parts of Asia tilapia are introduced to control mosquitoes. A small buzzer fished New Zealand style under deer hair caddis works quite well. Sometimes they will take the caddis. Also fished quite fast they will chase readily before a take.

The mature ones are more difficult being vegetarian. They are also very territorial which is the key. They will have "nests", large scrapes in the sand which they defend aggressively. By constantly casting into their "territory" with a flashy streamer they will sometimes attack the fly . Tilapia are pretty unimpressive when hooked. After an initial quick run they more or less give up.

They are good eaters though.

Heres a larger mature one. In fact the largest I have caught so far.

Nice job. Instead of bemoaning the lack of fishing you went out and found some. Good job.