What state would you choose to fish Bluegill if you could only pick one?

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

We are fortunate to have members from all over this great nation...One of my favorite things about Bigbluegill.com is the instant connection with the people that love and enjoy the same things that I do when it comes to all things Bluegill from folks all over the country.....Many of us have also had the great experience of fishing several different states whether vacationing, traveling for work or as a result of moving..... If you could pick one state to fish Bluegill, what state would it be and why? Thanks for sharing and I expect this may be a difficult choice for some and very easy for others.....Again, thanks in advance!

[christopher Mark Spivey]

If history would repeat its self my choice would be Back bay Virginia, In the mid 70's to early 80's you could pull up to a duck blind and catch hundreds of bluegills with the average being between a pound and a pound and 4 ounces. That would be my choice, for those that never fished it back then. you really miss out on something amazing.

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

I was fortunate enough to taste the awesome Bluegill fishing in Back Bay....the grass is making a comeback and hopefully the bass and bluegill fishing will follow.....Filled with long nosed gar right now and you must be patient with the wind....it's always breezy that close to the ocean but what a treat it would be to get Back Bay to where it was......Totally agree Mark!

[Bruce Tomaselli]

Being a hick I never realized there were bluegills in the salt water.

[Leo Nguyen]

Bruce, they can live in pretty brackish water. However, reproduction at a certain salinity is a different story. Unlike the tilapia with adjustment at a slow incrementation of salinity level, bluegills have certain ceiling limit, like every other fresh water species.

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

Yep....Back Bay is brackish water.....

[christopher Mark Spivey]

I have seen stingrays swim buy and my cork go down and on the other end a big bluegill.

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

Also the only place I've caught a flounder on a Bream Buster too! Could you imagine taking a boat load of members out there when it was in it's prime Mark......you really can't do it justice in words......I was young back then and didn't do the picture thing that much because it was too disruptive compared to the digital world we live in now........I hope I can share a tidbit of Back Bay in the years to come........Some of the biggest stringers for average that I ever saw for Coppernose gills........

[Tony Livingston]

What happened to them?

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

This was a vast region of submerged grass filled flats but almost overnight all the grass died and so did this body of water.....turning the region into a 9,000 acre mud hole......Bottom line is ........man's intervention and water level manipulation impacted this fishery so negatively........Only separated from the ocean by small barrier islands.....these fragile brackish waters became over run by salt water at higher than normal levels and upsetting the balance for many years to come......Trophy gamefish in multiple freshwater species were there and hopefully it will make a full comeback.........

[Jim Gronaw]

You know, Jeffrey, the Tropical Storms Agnes and Eloise of the early 1970's so impacted the Chesapeake Bay complex that upper bay rivers...full of big largemouths, chain pickerel and resident striped bass of 25 pounds plus in the Bay proper, were all but extinct for 30 years, coinciding with the tremendous loss of grasses in those tidal flows. Only in the last 5 to 10 years have those species rebounded to comparative levels back in those 'glory days'. Things are on the rebound. I wonder if those storms, and other huge climatic events, weren't at least part of the culprit for the Back Bay demise.

[Bill Purmort]

This is a great question, and it is very obvious that there isn't one answer...mainly because there is such good bluegill fishing in so many states!  I guess that is why this web site is such a success!  This little gamefish is prolific everywhere! and is available year round to all types of anglers....What a great discussion!

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

Thanks Bill and I couldn't agree more...I love to hear about the different possibilities throughout the country.....