Bluegill--Big Bluegill caught by Bruce Condello in Arizona!

Comment

Comment by Cody on June 6, 2013 at 5:49pm

Wow 13in is considered a big crappie in mn but a 13in bluegill obviously your doing something wright

Comment by Leo Nguyen on January 27, 2012 at 8:55pm

Definitely a congratulation. So, how about all of us shoreline the pond and have a pinic at the same time at the place? LOL

Comment by Tony Livingston on January 27, 2012 at 8:30pm

If this fish came from the body of water that I'm assuming it did, let me offer up my congratulations to the pond's owner. Well done, thanks for everything you do.

Comment by Bruce Condello on January 27, 2012 at 7:28pm

I believe that this is proof (I've always suspected) that all other things being equal, the northern strain have every bit as much top-end range as the CNBG.  No question in my mind.

 

2lbgill, the fights were incredible!  I attributed this to the fact that these fish were virtually solid muscle.  No loss of strength at all.  I've always thought that bluegill fights were largely because of their height, and pugnacity as opposed to their fin size....but a great question just the same. 

 

Leo.....we talk on the phone sometime. ;-)

Comment by Leo Nguyen on January 27, 2012 at 7:18pm

Yes! Data please! AZ is on constraint of water suplly per property, especially private ponds and lakes utilizing ground water. That alone is a challenge. On top of that you gave weather conditions that can prove to be extremely difficult to maintain a fish population at shallow depth. You end up cooking the fish with ambiant water temp of 92F. But if the pond is up in the northern areas, like Flagstaff or mountainous region, you hit pay dirt..but, the cost itself is extremely high for prized gills raising. You must have work very closely with the pond owner to bring those babies up to exceed 2lbs. Jealous!

Comment by Tony Livingston on January 27, 2012 at 7:00pm

Hmmmm. What do you make of that? To me that raises more questions.

Is it possible, that under identical growing conditions the northern strain will match the growth of the CNBG? I would love to see more data from this, and possibly other ponds that had both fish present, and involved in what I'm assuming to be an intensive management practice.

Will there be a time in the future that we may refer back to the "myth" of the superior CNBG growth?

Too early to tell I suppose, but very intriguing.

 

Comment by Bruce Condello on January 27, 2012 at 6:35pm

Half of the fish in the Arizona pond were coppernose, and the other half were standard northern strain.  To our complete surprise, there were no differences whatsoever in the size distribution or top end.  Both fish met and exceeded two pounds.

Comment by Tony Livingston on January 27, 2012 at 2:31pm

So which was bigger Bruce, Arizona or Richmond Mill??

 I believe you said the Arizona fish was a northern strain,  The Richmond Mill fish looked to be a Coppernose. Are there any drastic differences in the way both of those fish were able to achieve such sizes? I suspect there are many similarities.