How to know if there are bbg here?

[Jason Preslar]

I've done tons and i mean tons of fishing in my life and would like to get into some bigger panfish and crappie. God only knows how many i've caught. The thing is i see people catching these bluegill in particular that are 10" plus fish. I've been places and caught bucket fulls and never cross the 8" mark. Is this because their not here or just because i've not fulfilled the law of averages and not got any yet? My biggest bluegill ever was 9.5". Just wondered what you guys thought. Do i just need to keep covering different bodies of water until i find one that produces? thanks

[John C]

Totally agree, especially on weeding out smaller fish with bigger baits.
Using flies I catch a wide variety of sizes, using crankbaits mostly only bigger specimens are caught. Occasionally a small fish will be landed when it gets hooked on the outside of the mouth.

[Jason Preslar]

lots of nice input here; thanks to all

[Vince Fusco]

Not a fool proof way to seek out big gills, but another place to start may be checking where the previous and current state record gills came from in your state. Look at these waters and try to figure out what makes them different.  Some of my largest gills (over 1lb.) came from sand pits that were void of vegetation, brush/trees , and other visable structure plus being super clear with steep sloping banks. Willows were present in some areas along the shores, and I have even camoed up and approached these fish as if I were hunting deer, making low side arm casts. Boats or float tubes were not permitted in these sand pits.

 My personal best came from a shallow (less than 6 ft.) backwater lake off a river that runs from north Ga. through Atlanta, and is considered a premier trout fishing river here in the south east. The water rises and falls each day according to the generation schedule from a dam upstream and one downstream from this lake.

  Both places had two things in common. There was a healthy largemouth bass population, and the waters in each of them were considered clear. There are many variables in figuring out these big gills, and the challenge of it is what keeps me persuing these incredible fish. I hope I have been of some help to you.