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At 2:14pm on December 16, 2015, Thomas burns said…: Having just moved to North Carolina I was excited to find a place to fish for gills the size. Fished a lot for gills on lake Fork in Texas. But, never the size in this fisher. Used the same tactics applied here. Would like to know where and how to get to this fishery.
Glad I was accepted into the club.

At 10:51pm on December 15, 2015, Jeffery Trotter said…: thanks for adding me & for the warm welcome. may take me a minute to get my bearings here, but i am glad to have found this place. looks like a good chance to learn & share. must say i am pleasantly surprised to see others who fly fish for bluegills. fly fishing is not popular in my neck of the woods, but it is my main way of fishing.

At 9:27am on November 23, 2015, Clay Wright said…: Thanks for the warm welcome looking forward to fishing there...

At 8:09am on November 10, 2015, Damon Toney said…: Thanks for the warm welcome.

At 3:23pm on October 18, 2015, mike mcconnell said…: Thanks for the add, looking forward to participating

At 4:29pm on September 9, 2015, Marvin Morgan said…: Dick, I thank you for your info concerning acquiring a fish/depth finder. I know I should have had one long before this, but since joining this site, I have changed a lot of things about the way I have fished for bluegills in the past!! This is an amazing site, and I keep picking up all kinds of info each time I am on it. Thanks to fellas like yourself, and all the others on here that have offered help/opnions. I definately am going to start doing some research on the different models, and have one in my arsenal very soon. Thanks again.

At 4:01am on August 17, 2015, Shannon H. Dye said…: Brito.jpg

It was a red ear, 5 lbs 12.8 0z. 17" long.

At 8:36pm on August 16, 2015, carl hendrix said…: to my understanding;; a new world record blue gill was caught not long ago in Az.;; weighting just under 6 pounds;; length around 17 inches;; girth around 19 inches. look up world record blue gill; it gives the stats on it; and who caught it..

At 3:39pm on August 16, 2015, carl hendrix said…: Shannon;; we have on bbg site a few guys who raise bluegills;; pond management is a passion for them. Walt Foreman;; Tony Livingston;; and Dick Tabbert;; not to mention;; Bruce Condello.... my bet is;; these guys could answer your questions on raising pond bluegill !! yep;; knew there was something about you kind of special;; your from Alabama to !!!

At 1:10pm on August 16, 2015, Shannon H. Dye said…: I knew the world record came from Alabama in 1950 and it had beaten out the previous world record also caught in Alabama, from the same pond. I was only introduced to the coppernose in 2013, and it has grasped my full attention. In the summer of 2013, I was turned on to the coppernose bluegill, never knowing they were different that native bluegill. I became completely fascinated with their size and growth potential. I researched and studied raising them mostly in vane as a hobby since I had nowhere to raise my own. Luckily enough I came across some property for sale a couple months ago with a two acre pond. A small town outside of Alexander City, Alabama, by the name of Kellyton, would be my new hobby farm. The listing read, “A great home site on 11 acres, planted pines 15 years old with a 2 acre pond loaded with bass”. Immediately the add struck my interest with the pond and caught my attention with the bass. Soon I was signing papers and the cash was changing hands.
I am not a wildlife biologist nor do I claim to be a pro when it comes to managing ponds or raising fish or even catching them for that matter. I’ve been an oilfield worker since 2001, traveling the world over. I’m just an ordinary guy with a passion for the outdoors. Someone who God saw fit to bless with a work schedule that has given me an average of 4 weeks off every two months for the past many years. Ample time for hunting and fishing, camping and recreation I would say.
I was thinking… if dog years are 7 years to 1 human year and humans live an average of 80 years; I look at the max life span of a coppernose, 10 years in much the same way. 1 human year would be equivalent to 8 coppernose years. If that’s the case, wouldn’t a human who maturely peaks at age 20 in growth be the same as a coppernose peaking at age 2 to 2 ½ (16-20 in human years)? This means, using myself as a reference; the coppernose would no longer grow at the advertised exceptional rate (stated by so many fisheries) but slow down just packing on weight and girth as I have done.
I read of people feeding them and growing monsters, people catching and releasing 3 to 3 ½ pounders but they have yet to give a lifelong detail of the fish. When it hatched, what it ate, water temperature average each year, water quality, water depth,cover, size of the lake it lived in, predatory conditions, estimated population of the gills versus bass and so on. So I decided that it was time. This will be my plan for this new pond. I truly hope to be detailing, recording and sharing this information here over the next few years.

At 11:48am on August 16, 2015, Shannon H. Dye said…: Thanks Dick,

I'm looking forward to learning from you guys.You’ll have to overlook my ignorance and no, I’m not too proud to admit it. Growing up; I always thought a bluegill was a bluegill and a shell cracker was a big ole bluegill. I had no idea there were red ears and red bellies and bluegills and coppernose and pumpkinseed and orangespotted and redspotted and green sunfish. Seems there’s a whole rainbow assortment of the sunfish family. All I knew was spring was the time to start hunting down the bedding areas in East Central Alabama on Lake Martin, and loading up on “Bream”.

At 5:48pm on August 14, 2015, Jose Angel Guzman said…: Thank you Dick for the kind welcome. Bluegill have always been a favorite since my youth and still love catching them. Ive recently got into fly fishing and fly tying and have had great success fishing for bluegill on the fly. I've got plenty of photo's and footage of my fishing escapades and hope to bring something unique to the table here on Big Bluegill.

At 6:44am on July 30, 2015, Roger Turnbough said…: Dick,

Thanks for the add to BBG. As you probably know already, I'm a relatively new BG chaser. But I keep after em all the time trying to get out and fish 2 or 3 times a week. I am pretty much stuck with fishing retention ponds right now, and have to deal with weeds and hot water. Using a 3,5 and 7/8 weight flyrod I've learned how to cast, make a halfway decent presentation, and hit my mark while casting. I've also gotten into fly tying and am constantly looking for patterns that I can use here in NE Illinois.

I am no stranger to fishing at all. I've got a 17' boat with a 115hp merc on it, just cant afford to haul it to the rivers and lakes around here. I've tried bass fishing years ago, but found it was way more work to do than I cared for. I absolutely love to crappie fish, and can spend an entire day anchored up and drowning a minnow without a care in the world. I also get out on Lake Michigan once in a while and troll for Salmon and Steelhead.

So, as time passes, I hope I can contribute to the collective here.

Be well and tight lines.

Roger

At 2:37pm on July 24, 2015, Chad Hood said…: Dick it is always great to chat with you about our fishing exploits and love to chat with you. I am gonna decline the invite to your group because I am strictly a shore fisherman except for my chest waders. I just wouldn't be able to contribute to the group very well and seek to be able to actively contribute. Sorry. Maybe we can rack our heads and get a group going together about some other aspect of gilling.

At 9:22am on July 20, 2015, David Binney said…: Thanks for the welcome Dick Tabbert I found this site searching for videos on Bill Modica's spoon feeding techniques.

Found a lot on BBG and also found a 2 hour presentation on Youtube

that he gave to a fishing club in IL. I live in Wisconsin and I am a former member of the Okauchee Fishing Club. The fishing knowledge that can be learned from sharing in a club or on a site like yours would take a lifetime to do on your own.

Thank's again Dave Binney

At 1:13pm on July 7, 2015, Kenneth E. Wampner said…: Thanks for the welcome Mr. Tabbert. I have long been a pan fish fanatic. Ultra lite and fly fishing. Do all of my fishing out of a kayak. Hope others on here do also. Again thanks so much. I look forward to further discussions on this site.

At 12:40pm on July 6, 2015, matt said…: Can you tell me of some big bull lakes near mercer wi

At 4:17pm on July 1, 2015, David Alvey said…: Thanks for the welcome, I love to fish for all types of bream. Can you tell me how I can find other members that are from South Carolina?

At 8:43pm on June 28, 2015, Matt Smith said…: Thanks for the add!

At 10:43am on June 19, 2015, Wiles said…: Dick, thanks for the welcome and description of the site. I look forward to learning from everyone. I really enjoy fly fishing for bream. Most of my experience is with poppers and I am just starting to use some wet flies. Thanks again, Chris Wiles.