Trophy Bluegills - Bluegill - Big Bluegill2024-03-29T01:41:52Zhttps://bigbluegill.ning.com/forum/topics/trophy-bluegills?commentId=2036984%3AComment%3A40520&feed=yes&xn_auth=noIf you spend your time and mo…tag:bigbluegill.ning.com,2009-06-10:2036984:Comment:408862009-06-10T22:10:06.094ZRay Dandershttps://bigbluegill.ning.com/profile/RayDanders
If you spend your time and money building your own pond for bluegills, you are responsible for the management of those fish. You decide what to keep, what to feed them, weather to feed them, who will be allowed to fish and so on.<br />
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In many parts of the country the only way you can have access to good bluegill fishing is to invest the time, money and energy into building your own pond. I commend those folks especially the ones who study and learn what works best and pass this information on to…
If you spend your time and money building your own pond for bluegills, you are responsible for the management of those fish. You decide what to keep, what to feed them, weather to feed them, who will be allowed to fish and so on.<br />
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In many parts of the country the only way you can have access to good bluegill fishing is to invest the time, money and energy into building your own pond. I commend those folks especially the ones who study and learn what works best and pass this information on to the rest of us.<br />
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As soon as you go to a public lake you have no obligation nor duty to make any decisions about what anybody else does except to follow the law. The decisions you make for yourself notwithstanding.<br />
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In Michigan there are ample opportunities to catch trophy bluegills without that kind of extraordinary effort, but you still have to put in your time learning how to catch them.<br />
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There are folks who believe the fishing on any particular lake, river or stream could be much better if only the fishermen would release all the big fish without regard to all the other complexities that make up trophy waters. These people in my opinion are misguided.<br />
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Catch and Release in my opinion is not a good idea. When you have a catch and release or no kill area, none of the fish are utilized. Most lakes, streams or rivers that produce trophy sized fish can be managed effectively by allowing limited numbers of fish to be kept and still be a great trophy lake.<br />
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I also believe that bluegills between 8" and 10" make better brood stock. A bluegill over 10" in my opinion is past his prime. Throwing back large bluegills might be doing nothing for the fishery so is a wasted effort. I am all for conservation, but only when it makes sense. Many times people let their emotions guide them and make moral judgements thinking that they are doing something noble when in fact they are not.<br />
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Fishermen will flock to a lake when the word gets out that the bite is on. Fish stocks will be reduced and fish will be more difficult to catch which will induce less people to fish them and the lake will recover since there is more food for the remaining fish.<br />
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As fishermen we should be careful we are promoting the right thing and not just because it sounds good. Any kind of special regulation should only be applied after the fish professionals research the lake to find out if the regulation will help the fish or just give some fishermen a warm fuzzy feeling because they think they are doing the right thing. This is especially true for fishermen who want to apply their moral beliefs on the rest of us.<br />
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No kill and flies only regulations are the worst two regulations ever designed and are self serving. They are special rules for people who believe they are entitled to them. Within ever population there are some fish that are easily caught and some average fish and some fish that are very wary making them difficult to catch. Most of these special rules are promoted by people who want others to release the easy fish so they will have a better chance to catch them I know two lakes is not far f…tag:bigbluegill.ning.com,2009-06-10:2036984:Comment:407962009-06-10T14:06:07.262ZJohn Cachelhttps://bigbluegill.ning.com/profile/JohnCachel
I know two lakes is not far from my home ( less than one hour drive) is catch and release only! So far no trophy bluegills! Maybe somewhere in the lake but I don't know! I think something to do with shad! Lot of shad in both lakes might cause bluegills to grow slow and limit of food!<br />
I remember somewhere article to talk about large manmade lakes in southern states have poor bluegill fishery because of lot of shad!<br />
All I can think of is the best way is if you catch some nice 'gills over 8 inch…
I know two lakes is not far from my home ( less than one hour drive) is catch and release only! So far no trophy bluegills! Maybe somewhere in the lake but I don't know! I think something to do with shad! Lot of shad in both lakes might cause bluegills to grow slow and limit of food!<br />
I remember somewhere article to talk about large manmade lakes in southern states have poor bluegill fishery because of lot of shad!<br />
All I can think of is the best way is if you catch some nice 'gills over 8 inch then let it go! It get chance to grow bigger!<br />
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For George Husted.....<br />
I looked at my big bluegill notebook. Houghton Lake in Roscommon Co in Michigan have many bluegills over one pound! 1 lb 11 oz in 1976 and 1.5 lbs in 1977! Exactly what Bruce stated....…tag:bigbluegill.ning.com,2009-06-10:2036984:Comment:407852009-06-10T13:38:08.817ZKiana Fitzpatrickhttps://bigbluegill.ning.com/profile/Kiana
Exactly what Bruce stated......DITTO
Exactly what Bruce stated......DITTO I suppose I will weigh in a l…tag:bigbluegill.ning.com,2009-06-09:2036984:Comment:405562009-06-09T06:03:31.693ZNathanael Deloachhttps://bigbluegill.ning.com/profile/NathanaelDeloach
I suppose I will weigh in a little bit. All I could ever ask any fisherman of any species is to be a good stewart of what we have. The DNR doesn't have it all figured out yet. A good example here in Mn is they are finding that curtain slot limits and stocking practices cannot be a blanket requirement on all the lakes, it has to be treated on a lake by lake basis. There are to many lakes (or eco systems) for them to figure out the perfect scenerio for each species (that could change in time). So…
I suppose I will weigh in a little bit. All I could ever ask any fisherman of any species is to be a good stewart of what we have. The DNR doesn't have it all figured out yet. A good example here in Mn is they are finding that curtain slot limits and stocking practices cannot be a blanket requirement on all the lakes, it has to be treated on a lake by lake basis. There are to many lakes (or eco systems) for them to figure out the perfect scenerio for each species (that could change in time). So as responsible fisherman we should get to know our area lakes well enough to develop good harvesting practices for that lake. Then educate people as the opportunities arise. If we all practice what we preach, the results will soon start to show. Maybe in time we will have the best of both worlds, good harvestability with some tropheys thrown in. Thank you, but I would like t…tag:bigbluegill.ning.com,2009-06-09:2036984:Comment:405202009-06-09T00:10:52.057ZBruce Condellohttps://bigbluegill.ning.com/profile/BruceCondello
Thank you, but I would like to do a tiny bit of rephrasing.<br />
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I think that releasing larger bluegill is a really crucial part of creating fisheries that produce big individuals. I practice it, and I recommend it....I just try not to preach it. ;-)<br />
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It seems like people that feel "preached" to, don't tend to be influenced much. But when you take a friendly, and patient approach, then people's stances will soften.<br />
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What's the old saying?......Something like attracting something or other with honey…
Thank you, but I would like to do a tiny bit of rephrasing.<br />
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I think that releasing larger bluegill is a really crucial part of creating fisheries that produce big individuals. I practice it, and I recommend it....I just try not to preach it. ;-)<br />
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It seems like people that feel "preached" to, don't tend to be influenced much. But when you take a friendly, and patient approach, then people's stances will soften.<br />
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What's the old saying?......Something like attracting something or other with honey and not vinegar?..... Can't quite remember. I was going to give my though…tag:bigbluegill.ning.com,2009-06-08:2036984:Comment:404982009-06-08T19:50:21.570Zrobsablokehttps://bigbluegill.ning.com/profile/robsabloke
I was going to give my thoughts on the subject... then I read Dr. Bruce's reply and all I can say is "DITTO"<br />
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Tight Lines<br />
Rob
I was going to give my thoughts on the subject... then I read Dr. Bruce's reply and all I can say is "DITTO"<br />
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Tight Lines<br />
Rob I subscribe to returnin troph…tag:bigbluegill.ning.com,2009-06-05:2036984:Comment:398572009-06-05T14:03:23.904ZGeorge Hustedhttps://bigbluegill.ning.com/profile/GeorgeHusted
I subscribe to returnin trophy size fish of any breed back to the water.<br />
Can anyone tell me what would be considered a trophy size gill in central michigan?<br />
Thanks, Everyone
I subscribe to returnin trophy size fish of any breed back to the water.<br />
Can anyone tell me what would be considered a trophy size gill in central michigan?<br />
Thanks, Everyone I do agree that most trophy b…tag:bigbluegill.ning.com,2009-06-04:2036984:Comment:396022009-06-04T00:59:48.518ZJosh Holleyhttps://bigbluegill.ning.com/profile/JoshHolley
I do agree that most trophy bluegill should be released but I have never caught one that was super big but I would like to mount one
I do agree that most trophy bluegill should be released but I have never caught one that was super big but I would like to mount one Yes, depends on which lake yo…tag:bigbluegill.ning.com,2009-06-03:2036984:Comment:395562009-06-03T21:17:51.765ZJohn Cachelhttps://bigbluegill.ning.com/profile/JohnCachel
Yes, depends on which lake you fish! I caught some over 8 inch and a few over 9 inch in the forest preserve lakes near Chicago. Very heavy fishingf pressure and bluegills over 8 inch is rare so I let fish 7 inch or above back to water and hope that someday one of them might to make a 10 inch! I think that protect between 8 and 10 inch and keep only one over 10 inch per day might be helpful that people can keep 20 bluegills up to 8 inch and keep one over 10 inch or let it back to water for the…
Yes, depends on which lake you fish! I caught some over 8 inch and a few over 9 inch in the forest preserve lakes near Chicago. Very heavy fishingf pressure and bluegills over 8 inch is rare so I let fish 7 inch or above back to water and hope that someday one of them might to make a 10 inch! I think that protect between 8 and 10 inch and keep only one over 10 inch per day might be helpful that people can keep 20 bluegills up to 8 inch and keep one over 10 inch or let it back to water for the future trophy bluegill. I fished a good lake in Florida and I caught over 300 bluegills and many over 8 inch and several over 9 inch but only one is almost 10 inch! ALMOST 10 inch! I was mad! Of course I let it back to the water and hope to catch it again next year when it pass 10 inch mark! Its not easy!<br />
Its all depends on lake where you fish! Some lake have over 10 inch while other lake have only 6 inch..... keep search and find gold mine!<br />
I do my homework and research to look for trophy bluegills and make my trip to go there and hope to catch a trophy bluegill. I let all fish back to water and maybe keep one over 1.5 lbs for my wall.<br />
Look at fishery survey to see if lake have a good number of bass between 12 and 18 inch , or good number of walleye and perch and some pike then that lake might have some good size bluegills. I found one lake that have some very big bluegills in Wisconsin but problem is lot and lot of small perch.... that's not easy to fish for bluegills on worm or small minnow ...... you might get 20 perch before get one nice bluegill! Bigger bait and fish deeper water or off shore is good to start! I'll throw in my two cents wo…tag:bigbluegill.ning.com,2009-06-03:2036984:Comment:395332009-06-03T19:01:51.862ZBruce Condellohttps://bigbluegill.ning.com/profile/BruceCondello
I'll throw in my two cents worth.<br />
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If you're following your local rules and regulations, you're OK by me. If a person keeps an 11 incher to eat or mount, that's fine with me. If a person keeps a full limit of 10+ inchers, you're abolutely OK with me. No problems. I'd love to fish with you. To me this is not a moral issue. There are too many variables that I could never account for if I was going to make a moral issue out of this. Will Gibbs, I respect your opinion and am happy that you can…
I'll throw in my two cents worth.<br />
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If you're following your local rules and regulations, you're OK by me. If a person keeps an 11 incher to eat or mount, that's fine with me. If a person keeps a full limit of 10+ inchers, you're abolutely OK with me. No problems. I'd love to fish with you. To me this is not a moral issue. There are too many variables that I could never account for if I was going to make a moral issue out of this. Will Gibbs, I respect your opinion and am happy that you can express it on this forum, but I don't think you or I or anybody else should look down on someone else's harvest practices if they're abiding by the local regs.<br />
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That being said however, I'd like to say that a big part of this forum and website is to educate people about the things they can do to make the fisheries better for themselves and the rest of us long term. Releasing larger fish is a great way to do that. In some water bodies it's absolutely essential, if you're going to establish a trophy fishery to release the 9+ inch fish. I personally release all bluegill over 8.5 inches. In other water bodies, you could hardly make a lick of difference. If you kept every fish you could for a thousand years you wouldn't appreciably change the fishery if there's no other harvest pressure on say, a thousand acres of water.<br />
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Learn about the fish. Figure out what your goals are. Learn the local regulations. And keep a friendly rapport and banter going with your fellow local anglers. If you want BIG BLUEGILL, then gently approach and educate your buddies, and all of us together can do this.<br />
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But sorry, it's not a moral issue to me. Too many other more important moral issues to tangle with in life. :-)