Where are the MONSTERS?

[Shannon H. Dye]

Has there been any 4 pounders reported lately?

[Tony Livingston]

"Can grow", yes. "Likely to grow", unfortunately no. Shannon if you're serious about trying to grow record status fish, be aware that size is only half the equation...age being the other half. The key is to get these bluegills under your control as soon as possible. Early growth is fundamental, and it cannot be made up if absolute trophies are the goal. Those 6 inch coppers you are about to stock, how old are they? Ideally, those are this year class fish, meaning they hatched the spring of 2015. If they're last year's fish, and they're only 6" long, then while they may reach 10-11" they will probably never go on to become record quality....old age will catch up with them first.

That's why most avid bluegill enthusiasts serious about breaking records will breed their own stock, rather than buy it someplace else. By doing so they KNOW how old those fish are, rather than guessing, and they can take advantage of the very important early growth period. That's not to say that quality stock cannot be purchased, only that moving fish from one BOW to another without knowing the pedigree does not guarantee success.

Also, many states, Indiana included, do not recognize record sized fish that came from water where a supplemental feeding program was in place. Not sure if Alabama is one of these, but you might want to check. I know world records are disqualified when fed.

[Shannon H. Dye]

Well done... so we are seeing increasing numbers in good 3 pounders and a minimal few over that. Red ears, be it a panfish yes, is still not a bluegill. Much like the sought after Georgia Largemouth world record; finally broken (but called a tie) it seems we are all headed in the right direction.
Like I've stated before, I’ve caught many large fish over the years; also having sent a 3 lb. 4 oz. Crappie along with my 9.4 and 11.2 bass to the taxidermist. Looking back over the years, these fish have been broken and damaged to the point of no repair and disposed of, so they would have been better off being released back where they were caught.
State records like the one in Illinois caught by Darren May in 1987 at 3 lbs. 8 oz., Arkansas 3 lbs. 4 oz. in 1998, Georgia 3 lbs. 5 oz in 1977 and both North Carolina and Kentucky producing gills over 4 lbs. proves these fish can grow to phenomenal sizes. Big Gills in the 2 ½ and 3 pound range as with a Largemouth in the 8 to 10 pound range or bigger hardly ever get released for a chance to become a true monster. They usually end up under a fillet knife or on the wall of the person catching them. I’m guilty of it myself having sent my first bass I caught when I was 8 years old to the local taxidermy shop.
As people become more informed, I think we will begin to see more and more records broken. As bredding stock becomes more singlized and refined I feel we will see more true monsters; and yes... I do believe there is a 5 pounder out there somewhere.
As a matter of fact there is a single individual who is a multiple record holder here in Alabama for fish caught on a certain test fishing line. Not sure if anyone remembers when STREN put out that they would pay for record fish caught on their lines? But he did it repeatedly. Since then many of those records have been broken of course.
So what's to say in the next 2 - 5 years we don't see T.S. Hudson's world record beaten? I know I'll be planning and trying my best to beat it.
My little pond is about to be renovated; deepened and extended, limed and fertilized, and my plans (which changes weekly the more advice I get and the more I learn) are to stock 500 6" coppernose all of which I will tag 100 and monitor their growth rates for 5 years or until I make that phone call to Bass Pro Shops one day to sell them a live world record bull.
These days, I find that I seriously get more excited when I think about pulling cops out of my friends pond that I can't wrap my hand around (14" to 17" Girths - 9" to 10" long) than I do when I see a 150" buck crossing the creek below my stand.
He is giving me these over populated fish by the dozens. An inheritance, this 1.5 acre pond had not been fished in years and it holds approx. 60 to 80 largemouth in the 2 - 5 lb range and 800 +/- cops on average 9" to 10" from the last electro fish count. He was told to reduce the rate of cops by 500 because they are consuming their own young before the fry can reach any size to aid the bass. Yes, he only wants big bass in his pond. So guess what? I've been a fishin' fool.
Question: I have taken a few of these grand ole coppers and put them in my newly purchased pond... is that a bad thing since there were only 8" to 12" bass and red ears from 7" to 9" in there to start with?.

[Slip Sinker]

i agree with you Tony... but if the record is broken... i believe it will be in a western impoundment.

[Tony Livingston]

To me, the key point is in numbers of giant bluegills. There will always be that aberration, that one fish who had the stars all lined up and made good. But where are the runner ups? If it were simply a matter of a record fish "having to exist", shouldn't we be seeing signs in the form of 3 pounders?  A great example in my opinion is lake Havasu. How many times over the last 5 years or so has this BOW given up a new world record redear? 2-3? I still say we'll see a six pounder out of there.  But the reason I say that is due to progression.....we've seen the world record steadily inching up, and that implies to me that the ceiling hasn't been reached yet......there's still potential there.

Led is pulling amazing fish out of Perris, and I would give my eye teeth to fish with him for a day. but look at that lake record bluegill....3 lbs 15 ounces. The fish Led is catching, while still astounding, are hovering around the halfway point to that mark. If it were simply a matter of continual growth, shouldn't we be seeing 2.5 pounders, three pounders, and 3.5 pounders fairly regularly also? The fact that we aren't leads me to consider the possibility that the 3-15 current Perris record bluegill is an anomaly, not necessarily a precursor of what lies ahead.

Back to Havasu. That lake gives up numbers of 2.5-4 lb redears. This to me, implies a pattern of continual, progressive growth. And all of us here know that redears typically grow much larger than bluegills, so it stands to reason that a redear/bluegill cross would offer more potential for max size than a "pure" bluegill.

[Slip Sinker]

is this true... Lake Perris record bluegill 3-15 ?

wow... there is hope in these western lakes

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Perris

i would say they are out west

[Tony Livingston]

The fact that we don't see bluegills in this size range underscores the absolute rarity of fish growing that large.  The unfortunate truth is, bluegills simply don't normally get that big. if it were simply a matter of feeding them and watching them grow, we would see photos of the giants on a fairly regular basis.

I'm somewhatinvolved in raising bluegills, and I have contacts who are much more involved than I am, and I can tell you that 3.5 - 4lb bluegills are, essentially non-existent. That doesn't mean that one, giant fish isn't out there somewhere, but expecting to churn out 3-4 lb fish on a regular basis just doesn't happen. I mentioned a few days ago that my personal feeling is that the current world record BG will continue to stand, and the primary reason I feel that way is because I honestly think that fish wasn't a bluegill, but a redear/bluegill cross.

Bluegills may be endowed with indeterminate growth, but that is a long way from simply existing until they surpass 3 lbs, let alone 4. Nature just doesn't work that way.

[Leo Nguyen]

4lbs+ get reported in from Lake Havasu in AZ/CA border, including the rarely sought after redears and bluegills at the Diamond Valley Lake. But, none reported in lately.

[carl hendrix]

have you seen Bruce Condello;s pix;; of his catches;; either at his pond;; or at richmond mill in north carolina??????   also ;; our friend ; ledhead; in Calif. has been catching some real brutes in the 2 pound range....