Reflections....A Perfect Coppernose Male

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Comment by Tony Livingston on January 29, 2015 at 5:26am

Illinois is too far north for coppernose. Now having said that, it is not unheard of to find a traveling fishtruck bringing in intergrade coppers from Arkansas for pond stocking into Illinois and Indiana waters. BUT....in many cases, those folks are far more interested in selling you fish than they are in making sure of their success in your pond. It's usually best to find a local hatchery, who will be selling/raising fish that are acclimated to your water temps.

After all, there is a whole lot more to it than simply having the fish survive, you want them to prosper! That's the same reason that pure Florida bass are not stocked this far north.....even if they survive, their growth will not be as great as the northern fish who can handle the water temps of this area., and continue to grow.

And, although Walt might disagree, I am firmly convinced that northern bluegills can reach the same sizes as coppernoses. Coppers grow quicker right out of the gate, but I'm betting that that fast growth slows down, much the same as it does with hybrid bluegills. Bluegills display indeterminate growth, meaning they will continue to grow over their entire life. And studies have shown that northern bluegills typically live longer than coppers, so that's more time for continued growth.

I'm heavily into ponds and raising bluegills, and while I would love to try my hand at coppernose, it's not going to happen this far north. And honestly, from what I see I'm not sure any longer that the advantage is there. I have many friends in southern waters far more involved with the coppers than I will ever be, and I have begun asking them the same questions: Where are all the big fish?? If coppers are superior, growth wise, shouldn't we be seeing bucket loads of photos showing two pounders by now? But we're not. We see a big fish here and there, but we do that with northern gills too. I've seen thousands of photos of pound and a half bluegills, of both varieties. But if the supposed superior growth of coppers is really there, where are all the two pound plus fish? When we do see numbers of them, they always seem to come from the same one or two fisheries. Which leads me to surmise that management practices and food, share at the minimum, equal billing with genetics when it comes to turning out big gills, northern or coppernose.

Comment by Andy is OptiMystic on January 29, 2015 at 3:56am

After Jeff Soto asked were I got the info, I did realize I was accepting some random post I dug up as fact and quoting it elsewhere. That's not always best practice. So I just did a little more reading over there and got the same impression you have - he seems to know his stuff.

Comment by Jeffrey D. Abney on January 29, 2015 at 1:49am

No Andy I believe the TN Pond Manager is a respected reference for Coppernose and he is one of the people I suggested that could answer Tooty's question about stocking in Southern Illinois.......

Comment by carl hendrix on January 28, 2015 at 11:03pm

warm weather coming soon Jeff!!  bet you get a boat load of these!

Comment by Andy is OptiMystic on January 28, 2015 at 8:29pm

I just reread that thread on the Texas forum. If that guy (TN pond manager) is blowing smoke, he is doing it well enough to fool me; I think it likely he manages ponds and knows what he is talking about.

Comment by Andy is OptiMystic on January 28, 2015 at 7:21pm

http://texasfishingforum.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/8799024/H...

3rd post down. I am taking a bit on faith in that the guy appears to be a pond stocking expert, but I can't say for sure.

Comment by Jeff Soto on January 28, 2015 at 6:39pm

Andy- What info did you find about the Calif.state record Bluegill?  All I have seen is it listed as just a Bluegill, not specified as a coppernose.  Living in Calif and fishing a nearby lake that has a good chance to harbor a new state record fish, (maybe even a World Record!), I always like to read anything about our California Bluegill.   

Comment by Jeffrey D. Abney on January 28, 2015 at 6:16pm

No problem Tooty........I'd rather be fishing as you know but short winter days and long work hours are tough! It'll get better soon!

Comment by dick tabbert on January 28, 2015 at 6:14pm

Dave I'm to far north so I would say your way to far north. I did check into it cause I was thinking about doing a little stocking myself.

Comment by DAVID L EITUTIS on January 28, 2015 at 6:13pm

Thanks Jeffrey , can always count on you for info and beautiful pics !!!

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