Finding Big Gills

[Sean Penix]

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.

[Jacob Hill]

Hmm now I'm curious. Where did you find these studies?

[Lord of the Fly , Rods]

Just google catch and release fish mortality rates, lots of good reading including delayed mortality from catch and release.

[Jacob Hill]

Table 1
Summary of Results of Catch 
and Release Mortality Studies 
(Without Consideration of Optimized Techniques)

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%

[carl hendrix]

well;; ive been reading all of this about ways to find big bluegills..  for me;; I have one solution--FOLLOW JEFFERY!!!  lol!!

[jim cosgrove]

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.

[Walt Foreman]

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.

[jim cosgrove]

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

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

I keep my bigger fish, culling as I go. When its time to leave, I'll keep the moderate sized ones. I turn the largest loose.

I learned this here at BBG.

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

Jim, some of the biggest gills I can remember catching were in 18 feet of water. We caught them off DNR
built fish attractors, middle of the day in the warm, bright days of early summer. We were using Zebco spincast reels, split shot and single hook rigs. Store bought worms were the bait. I may be fat and old, but my memory is good!

This episode sticks vividly in my mind, because at the time
I didn't know bluegill could get as big as these. I remember asking what was wrong with them, like they were mutants of some kind....

[jim cosgrove]

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.

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

Here in the South gin clear water is a rarity. I don't know of any, at least.
But I do know that here, at least, the fish go deep once the Spring window closes.
I'll catch gar, bass, and smaller gills toward the shore. If I'm out early enough, some decent gill may be caught near shore, too.
But, after about 10am, when the sun gets high, the nice gills and shellcracker are out towards channels, deep structure, the deep end of fallen trees..not to mention the fish attractors. It starts about late May and goes that way until the Fall turnover begins.
From what I've read about bluegill in my library , this is a standard pattern.

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

Call, you're smart for such an ugly guy. lol :-)