Do you love big bluegill?

I THOUGHT FOR SURE I HAD MY 2-POUND HYBRID...

But alas, this powerhouse fish just went 1-12. Seemed bigger, heavier than some of the others. She still swims.

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Comment by mike martinez on September 7, 2014 at 7:36am: Frankengill......That is awesome Jim,alot of nice fish this yr.

Comment by dick tabbert on September 6, 2014 at 9:05pm: Looks like it to me look at the girth but anyway it a sheer beauty Jim CONGRATS..........

Comment by Tony Livingston on September 6, 2014 at 7:57pm: You didn't come off that way at all, Jim. I just know what it's like to have a goal in mind, and in my case I can get so caught up in it that I have a hard time not sounding disappointed when I come close, but not quite.

That 2lb hyb is out there, waiting.

Comment by Jim Gronaw on September 6, 2014 at 7:47pm: Yeah...I hear ya Tony. And I surely don't want to come off as one who looks down at 8 to 9 inchers...the fish that make up the overwhelming bulk of what we all would hope to catch on a regular basis. Truth is, some days I'd give a lot to run into a dozen nice, half-pound gills for the pan.

This is a very rare gem of a small lake that yielded us nine fish over 12 inches last year and six at that benchmark this season. The owner showed me a cell-phone pic of a dead floater that he saw just last week...the fish was laying next to a folding carpenters ruler and measured a full 13 inches! I believe that fish, alive and in full glory, would have been that elusive 2 pounder.

I am sure we have had 'repeat catches' on some of these fish. But my photo documentation has clearly identified 9 individual hybrids to exceed 12 inches. There may be more. We have also ID'ed another dozen or more to exceed 11 inches and we have not caught any in this pond in the last three years that were under 10 inches in length. A good day here is 10 fish, and you have to fight your way through the 6 to 11 inch largemouths to get a big hyb.

Our standard issue drop-shot and live worm tactic was ignored today. Went spoonin'.

Comment by Tony Livingston on September 6, 2014 at 6:22pm: "Just" 1-12........That sounds like me. Have I become jaded? I remember a time, not that long ago, when a fish that size would've had me on cloud nine for weeks. These days, it takes a new PB to get me fired up. Everything else seems to blur together under the heading of "good fish".

No matter, cause that thing IS a beast! Nice job with the spoon methodology, too!!

Comment by Jim Gronaw on September 6, 2014 at 6:10pm: It was, Jeffrey...I hooked this fish at the end of a long cast and she stayed down and out of sight until the very end. Powerful, and got her on 4 lb test and micro-light rod.