searching for big gills within 8hrs of ky

[Andy Mattingly]

well....me, my dad and uncle have been going to a large pond in alabama for a few years now with huge bluegill and redear...pics are below. we get a call today from the owner...alabama has had 10" of rain, their dam collapsed, and the pond is gone...sad day. our trip is planned for the second week of may...and we are on the hunt for a new hole. so if anybody knows of a place with huge gills let me know...willing to drive up to 8 hours from louisville, ky. not looking for 7-8 inchers....we are looking for at least 10+" on a regular basis...prefer small to large ponds...but nothing is out of the question. Please help!!

[Andy Mattingly]

thats what im afraid of...we might head back to mississippi. we went down there for a few years...tons of small state parks within an hour of each other that all hold huge gills...in tupelo. its just more expensive driving around to all the lakes and paying launch fees everytime...the search for a new place will continue though...

[Joe B]

I have caught allot of gills of that quality at reelfoot but nowhere else? Good Luck.

[Andy Mattingly]

my dad use to go crappie fishin at reelfoot but i was too young...i know they got killer crappie (or they did back then)..maybe i will run it by him.

[Jim Gronaw]

Hey Andy...those crackers and gills are indeed exceptional and 10" plus fish are not the norm for public or private water. You might have better luck finding big shellcrackers in public venues than the monster gills. Flanagan Res, in Virginia and Lakes Prince, Burnt Mills and Western Branch, near Suffolk. VA have big crackers to 14 in. Might be a little too far to drive, though.

PS...if you do find another truely exceptional fishery like the one you had, it would behoove you to release a majority of the trophy class fish and maybe keep some rank and file 8 to 9 inchers for the pan. Good luck ! Jim

[Andy Mattingly]

thanks for info on the lakes, i will look them up...and dont worry, the pond got almost no pressure...a couple owned it and had two cabins on their property...u had to stay in the cabin to fish it...it was nice...no license required and can drink on the water..so u cant beat that. most of the ones we kept were probably around 8", although we kept a few larger ones...

[Eric White]

dern people and there warmer waters.....if the dam is located near a river i would start down stream as far as you can and wander up stream untill you find them they tend to try and run up stream making deep slow moving pools great for fishing.

[Andy Mattingly]

not sure about that one...there was a little runoff creek behind the dam, but it was almost dry...i might see if i can find out if there is a river that it runs into..

[bomberboat]

wow nice