Bluegill - Big Bluegill

Do you love big bluegill?

I manage a 20 acre pond in southern Mi. The Bass fishing in the summer is only exceeded by the occasional 11 inch bluegills that will hit top water plugs. We only allow about 20 individuals on this pond on a strict catch and release basis. Ice fishing is a topic that recently was asked of me. There has never been an open harvest in the winter. Should I allow a limited harvest, put a min or max size on the fish, or just keep things the way they are? There appears to be more Bass than bluegills in this pond. Any suggestions or comments?
Tony I

Views: 577

Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Carp are not a predator - they're technically omnivorous, but they eat little to no fish; they're bottom feeders, and the animals they eat are mainly invertebrates.  And catfish, if you mean channel cats, while certainly predators, don't do nearly as good of a job controlling bluegill as largemouth do. 

 

I went to the California website for Lake Irvine.  I fished the lake once when I lived in L.A., and remember being told that high numbers of trout are stocked into it; the website says 5,000 pounds per week, which is a heck of a lot of trout for one lake, even a good-sized one.  While trout certainly are predators, unlike largemouth they also eat a lot of the same foods - aquatic invertebrates, for instance - that bluegill do.  I would venture that the heavy competition for food that the bluegill face from the thousands upon thousands of weekly-stocked trout is the reason the bluegill aren't as big as some other SoCal lakes.  And, one of the species listed on the website is carp, so that's another species directly competing with the bluegill for food. 

Good to know a few facts about carps. The carps in Lake Perris are a mix breed. Some are predatory opportunists, where as other merely enjoy anything they can get to.  When I metered the spawning areas of the panfishes, I always see carps and cats linger within the area. A shared habitat or a predation in motion, I can't say without a camcorder rolling the footage. The water is so stained here that you can't see beyond 3ft below surface. However, what I witnessed in the shallow areas got me baffled. Carps chasing baitfishes along the sandbed, or carps leaped out of the water, hammering floating bugs  on the surface of the water, including my flies, like basses. A few who caught carps also found small 2" gills in their bellies. Just scratching my head at what are these carps true diet is.

Irvine is over estimated on their stock trouts planting. 5,000 per week is way over indulging our eyes and ears with news. More like 2,500 per month. If we're lucky, 3,500. Holdover trouts that can get into the double digits since not many of us drive down to Irvine on a constant basis, and they have quite a huge area to hide form shoreline anglers. People who live in the Orange County areas like to hit the salt water over the fresh water for fishing activities, mainly piers and surf fishing. Trouts in Irvine is known for their voracious appetites for baitfishes and gills. Large trouts will hunt for baby gills at their spawning beds near the eastern shallow area, as well as the southern shore were vegetation can get dense. It's the best fishing ground to get lucky with the double digit trouts.

However, very rare does Irvine Lake get monitored like Lake Perris. The reason why is Lake Perris is constantly reporting in fish species being captured, and the plenty of angling volunteers willing to share their time to help out DFG with their tasks, and learn a few things in the process. I'm definitely no expert on fishery management, but man, a few things I found from fishing experience just baffle me. Thanks to this forum, I learn more about the panfish's capacity to reach new heights every day.

Definitely want to have a harvest plan of some sort in place and you got some great suggestions here.  Depending on how compliant the allowed anglers are, you should be able to keep it a very good fishery. 

RSS

Latest Activity

Jeffrey D. Abney commented on Troy Dorman's photo
Thumbnail

1000003891

"Pretty Northern strain bluegill Troy!"
yesterday
Jeffrey D. Abney commented on Troy Dorman's photo
Thumbnail

1000003887

"Great fish….this is the right kind!"
yesterday
Troy Dorman posted photos
yesterday
Jeffrey D. Abney commented on Jeffrey D. Abney's photo
Thumbnail

Picked up Several Nice Yellow Perch Shallow…..4/29/2025

"Thanks John….never get tired of quality perch bites…"
Wednesday
John Sheehan posted photos
Wednesday
John Sheehan commented on Jeffrey D. Abney's photo
Wednesday
John Sheehan commented on John Sheehan's photo
Thumbnail

493726391_10238746707466370_4942384414329687790_n

"Good job ,Jeff! The ones I caught were probably in 5-6 ' but long cast from shore. These…"
Wednesday
Jeffrey D. Abney posted a photo

Picked up Several Nice Yellow Perch Shallow…..4/29/2025

Also caught two nice white perch shallow also…
Tuesday
Jeffrey D. Abney posted photos
Tuesday
Jeffrey D. Abney posted photos
Tuesday
Jeffrey D. Abney posted a photo

Dock Crappie…..4/29/2025

We had blue skies with 81 degrees…strong southwest wind but our water was still blown out from the…
Tuesday
Jeffrey D. Abney posted photos
Tuesday
Jeffrey D. Abney posted a status
"It was still windy but a friend and I splashed this afternoon, nice mixed bag ….low water at 70 degree surface temperatures…good times…"
Tuesday
Jeffrey D. Abney commented on John Sheehan's photo
Thumbnail

493726391_10238746707466370_4942384414329687790_n

"Nice John….I caught several white perch this afternoon very shallow…"
Tuesday
Jeffrey D. Abney commented on Troy Dorman's photo
Thumbnail

1000003851

"Pretty specimen Troy!"
Monday
John Sheehan commented on Troy Dorman's photo
Thumbnail

1000003857

"Posting some nice Fish, Troy!"
Sunday
John Sheehan commented on John Sheehan's photo
Thumbnail

492222666_10238698533862060_5336729201480880262_n

"Fish are flopping around like its July up here and we haven't seen May yet! Very weird year!"
Sunday
Bruce Tomaselli commented on Troy Dorman's photo
Thumbnail

1000003857

"I can just taste the fillets!"
Sunday
Troy Dorman posted photos
Sunday
John Sheehan commented on John Sheehan's photo
Apr 26

© 2025   Created by Bluegill.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service