Do you love big bluegill?
I fish mainly from shore and I know how to catch bluegill...(I catch scuds of the little guys) but im not even really sure where to start looking for the big ones. I fish in areas that are fished a lot so there is tons of pressure everywhere. I know private ponds are my best bet but not everyone is willing to let any old body fish in their own backyard honey holes. Some tackle recommendations or new techniques to try would be welcome. Would love to find some giant 'gills in southern ohio.
Tags:
Hmm now I'm curious. Where did you find these studies?
Just google catch and release fish mortality rates, lots of good reading including delayed mortality from catch and release.
Study # | Species | Study Type | Environment | Mortality | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
5 | Tautog | pens | ocean | 1.70% | Mostly baited hooks |
7 | Billfish | telemetry | ocean | 1.00% | All techniques |
1 | Walleye | tanks | lake | 1.00% | Artificial lures |
8 | Tarpon | telemetry | inshore | 4.00% | Various |
4 | Shad | tanks | river | 1.00% | Lures only |
4 | White Perch | tanks | river | 0.20% | Baited lures |
4 | Yellow perch | tanks | river | 2.90% | Bait |
10 | LM Bass | test ponds | ponds | 5.80% | Baited hooks |
8 | Bonefish | Isolation | inshore | 4.00% | All techniques |
8 | Snook | Isolation | inshore | 2.00% | All techniques |
8 | Seatrout | Isolation | inshore | 5.00% | All techniques |
6 | Striped bass | pens | inshore | 4.30% | Baited hooks |
9 | Salmon | telemetry | river | 3.00% | Fly |
Average Mortality = 2.76% |
|
well;; ive been reading all of this about ways to find big bluegills.. for me;; I have one solution--FOLLOW JEFFERY!!! lol!!
deep clear water=big gills near me.deep weeds gives the preds more ambush points and less places for the little gills to hide.some lakes just have everything right.one i go to every year is full of 8-10 inch gills and lots of crappies over 12.it gets fished hard and LOTS of fish go under the knife.but the fishing has been good the las 10 years.i go to this lake the last weekend in april and water and weather conditions are different every year.we keep some for a fish fry but many others keep a couple hundred fish over the week.i was kind of shocked but does not seem to effect the fishing .i have never been there for the spawn but have seen deep points with hundreds of last years nests.we catch most of the gills in deep open water which also was eye opening my first couple trips.
It definitely has an effect, Jim. If the lake is producing 8-10" bluegill with people keeping a lot of them, it could produce 10-12" fish if people released the big ones they're keeping now. If I had a dollar for every time I've read a comment on here or another forum, or by an outdoor writer in an article on big bluegill, about a northern lake that used to produce two-pound bluegill but no longer does due to fishing pressure, I'd have a bunch of dollars.
i agree Walt,i heard this lake used to have even bigger gills.crappie seem to go thru cycles and this lake and several others in so illinois are in a boom cycle right now.all the fish in this lake are fat ,even the smaller crappies.has a good white bass population also.contrary to what has been said here the largemouth population is poor in this lake due to a fish kill a few years ago.i only go here in april with my cousins and some other guys so i don't know what the fishing is like the rest of the year
your right david and if a lake or the quarries and strip pits are spring fed they can stay deep all summer.a lot of people avoid these areas as the clear water makes the fish spooky.i enjoy it,like fishing in an aquarium.
© 2024 Created by Bluegill.
Powered by