21 7" TO 8-1/2" BLUEGILLS - WHY ALL THE SAME SIZE BLUEGILLS? GOT ANY FAVORITE LURES FOR MONSTER BLUEGILLS?

[Frank Ribble]

THURSDAY, IT WAS 2PM & I HAD AN HOUR TO FISH. CAUGHT 21 7" TO 8-1/2" BLUEGILLS MOST WERE 8" & LOOKED IDENTICAL. WOW! MUST HAVE SCARED ALL THE ROCKBASS AWAY. WONDERED IF IT IS LIKELY A MONSTER BLUEGILL WOULD BE WITH THEM? A SCHOOL OF LARGER BLUEGILLS MIGHT BE TOO MUCH TO ASK FOR ON A LAKE KNOWN FOR STUNTED BLUEGILLS & GOOD BASS FISHING. ANY SPECIAL LURES TO USE TO SELECT A BIGGER FISH? I CAUGHT THEM ON THE BOTTOM WITH 2 PRERIGGED GOLD ABERDEEN HOOKS & A SINKER, WITH A BOBBER & #10 HOOK, & CASTING A #10 HOOK & A SPLITSHOT. FISHING WITH A CHUNK OF HUGE CRAWLERS FROM A STORE THAT MOVES A LOT OF WORMS. FED ALL MY WORMS i CAUGHT IN MY YARD TO MY FAVORITE SCHOOL OF 2" TO 5" BLUEGILLS. FOUGHT GREAT TORE UP 1 OF  MY GOLD HOOKS. USING CAGUN REDLINE ON ONE POLE & GREEN LINE ON THE OTHER. FISH VERY CLEAR WATER. NEVER SEEMED TO HAVE AS MUCH LUCK BEFORE USING THIS COLORED LINE. SORRY, DON'T HAVE A CAMERA, YET.

    FISHING WITH A CREEK CHUB, A STEEL LEADER & 12LB CAJUN REDLINE, WHILE I WAS BUSY WITH THE BLUEGILLS. REELED LINE IN & DIDN'T HAVE  ANYTHING ON IT? OOPS! TURTLE? FISH BROKE ME OFF ON A ROCK?  DON'T THINK IT WILL BE LONG BEFORE I HAVE A PICTURE FOR BIG & UGLY. AT LEAST, I DIDN'T LOSE MY POLE.

     GOOD LUCK FISHING!

[Tony Livingston]

Frank, if there's one thing I've learned in my years spent BG fishing, it's that anything's possible.

However, I have seen untold  waters' where the BG maxed out at a certain size, and that became the dominant size class in the pond. Not all BOW will hold big BG..... sad but true.

You might try upsizing your offering, and/or switching to an artificial lure such as a spinner,  spoon, or jig tipped with live bait. The fish may not be spawning quite yet in your location, but will be soon. Pay this lake another visit then, and search out the spawning grounds. I have seen the beds in the middle of the colonies hold the bigger fish, and if you can locate some beds in deeper water, there's a chance they might have bigger males on them as well.

Remember, those fish are most vulnerable during this time of the year, so feel out what's in the lake and practice conservative fishing... Prior years of folks hitting the BG hard during spawning  might account for the lack of big fish nowadays.

"It's hard to fish down the number of BG in a BOW, but relatively easy to fish down the size"