Do you love big bluegill?

Sometimes I just don't understand

Sometimes I just don't understand why other anglers snicker at the pursuit of panfish. I don't care how much they talk about other species, I believe that panfishing on a consistant level require elements of what the pros like to call 'finesse fishing'. Anyone who has ever gone out for bluegill or crappie in the dead of winter knows it's as much a challenge as any other fish. I have seen all species of panfish designated as 'game fish', so that's enough validation for me. And when I say, "to me the perch is the delicacy of all panfish", I mean it as seriously as the person who goes out for yellow fin tuna. We are all anglers, and we all have our own approach, etc.

All the best, Mike Burro ( New Jersey )

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Comment by Mike Burro on October 18, 2011 at 11:24am: Johnny wilkins, thanks so much for your hearfelt and thorough response to my posting from earlier in the year..Cheers! Mike Burro

Comment by Johnny wilkins on August 16, 2011 at 1:19pm: Illinois' state fish is the bluegill and these offer the best angling challenge in the top half of the state. In our tournaments held in Northern Illinois - many of our tournaments are won on weights of bluegills because the other species do not respond. I can relate that I have won competitions based on the weight of bluegills that I was able to catch while others tried for carp or catfish as they went for big fish. In my first ever US Open, many in the field including everyone in my section went for carp (by the way - the world's most popular gamefish) and I was 1st place with the top weight on day one because I spent 99% of my time focused on bluegills while the others watch and copied the top pros from England as they went for carp.
Another competition, my neighbor lands a 15.5 lb. carp in the first 5 minutes of fishing and I spent the final 3 hours (of 4) fishing for bluegills but I caught more weight than he did as he only caught 2 more small fish - I caught 500 of the tiniest bluegills which outweighed his fish only by 2 lb. ...
One of the coolest part of our fishing leagues is that bluegill not only matter, but are often the focus in many lakes and ponds because they are there and they add up.
The bluegill is a fantastic fighting fish and a fish to be reckoned with. People's classifications of fish don't matter and are still based on 1950's mentality. Where this worries me is in an established lake with healthy, plentiful bluegills, local people will poison the entire pond to try and improve the bass population. Without catch-and-release only bass fishing, enforcement, enforcement, enforcement and policing the water daily - the bass are taken out. Municipalities like Chicago's Cook County poisoned the Lincoln Park Lagoon to get rid of "nuisance fish". I would relay back to them that their Lagoon now offers little to no fish now to "both us". Their comment when they had to order several more trucks to haul off the dead fish that they "didn't realize were there" was - "we had no idea how many fish where there"...

I had an idea what was in there and I had guided people as far away as England who had the day of their lives catching 13 lb. carps, goldfish, bluegills and channel catfish. The fishing was world class only they view the nuisance species as a reason to spend thousands in poison and hauling tons of dead fish away.

What many call a nuisance - I called the 2nd best fishing in the Northern Illinois urban waters. Don't let others tell you what is good- they had no idea. Often times, they don't even fish.

Comment by Copperhead John on August 12, 2011 at 6:05am: Chaulk it up to extreme ignorance! There is no greater pleasure than fishing for panfish period!

Comment by Rob Hilton on June 14, 2011 at 2:50pm: Anyone can catch Bluegills in the Spring... Even BIG ONES... especially during the spawn. Consistently catching Big Bluegills and/or Redear throughout the year can and will test the commitment... patience and tenacity of any angler. As with any endeavor... you get out of it what you put in...

Comment by Mike Burro on May 6, 2011 at 4:04pm: I appreciate all your comments. I just meant to say that panfishing, like any other type of fishing, has it's own challenges. I see people come down to the lake and throw half a dozen casts and the leave. They don't read the water. wind, current etc. Bluegill and their like are not just 'the little fish, that kids catch off the dock', but a real game fish, with it's own tactics; and I think the big bulls show a tendency for learning, because I often think a wily bass is playing with me, but it's a big bluegill, hitting and running, using some sort of knowledge to 'psych me out'

Comment by John Sheehan on May 6, 2011 at 2:20pm: Sometimes you know the fish are there and maybe they know you are too but they are there for a reason and aren't leaving.They're hungry and willin' to bite but finding out how ,(presentation,size bait,specific bait)is the curious enticement to keep at it. Stocked Trout are very much there for the taking but some guys fail and others wipe up.I think it can be the same with all fish .Figuring out their conditioned responses is an Art and a Craft.Of course reconditioning them with groundbait and chum is another approach.