The body dynamics on those RM BG are so different from what I expected to see. Not that they aren't huge, but most bigger BG that I have seen tend to share the "frisbee" shape....nearly as tall as they are long. The photos you guys have posted appear to show fish that are long, with a very definitive slender transition from body-to-tail. And speaking of which, those tails are massive! If a small tail on a large fish is representative of a very quick growth, then do these photos show BG which are older, and much more slower growing?
To me, there was nothing normal about fishing this lake. My "deadly" tactics were useless.
To catch the bluegill, you had to cast within a few inches of the shoreline or grass beds using the rig Sunil mentioned above. More than a foot away would not produce anything. In about 60 years of bluegill fishing, moving the rig when you see or feel a bump on the bait, just a very small amount of movement almost always results in hooking into a fish. The bluegill at RM were like cats -- they were going to deal with us on their own terms and conditions. A moved bait, where they had to move a few inches to get it, was a no-no.
I did not see the bass and bluegill intermingling. Whether in my ponds, or in public waters, it seems that the bass and bluegill are usually in close proximity to each other. Not here.
There are monstrous crappie in this lake. I tried multiple types of small tubes and jigs that are usually extremely effective against bluegill and crappie when bounced off the bottom in most places I fish. I got a few crappie, and what they call "flyers." The flyers are some strange looking fish that look like a "photoshopped" fish made from a crappie, a rock bass, and some other sunfish.
As I believe I posted above, I found that the most effective bait for the big bluegill was a Stubby Steve's pellet, then an added live cricket, on a #4 long shank hook. As described by Sunil, the hook was about 18 inches below a float, with a sinker or two in between. Nothing like I'd ever use locally.
The comments by SparkPlug about the size and shape was another topic of discussion. Dave Davidson and Fireishot (Al) were fishing together. They each caught bass that were the same weight, but their lengths were very significantly different. I'm guessing Dave and Al are still traveling, but maybe when they get back they can tell us a little more about that.
Randy caught a chain pickerel that was the largest I'd ever seen. I don't particularly care for pickerel, having grown up catching their much larger cousins, the northern pike and musky. To me, pickerel are usually a lot like snakes. But, this pickerel was longer than most, and very thick and meaty. After being filleted by Bruce, I fried it a couple of different ways. It was very meaty and delicious.
The other thing that struck EWEST and me, after spending about 16 hours together on the water over two days, was the total lack of seeing any baitfish. I don't remember what he caught, but I think I only caught two small bass. Both about 10 inches with a Wr of about 1. All the rest of the bass were very large and fat. Same with the bluegill. I caught a large number of bluegill between 1 and 2 lbs. I only caught a few bluegill that were in the 6-8 inch range, and nothing smaller.
I wouldn't say it is a challenging place to fish. It is a unique place to fish.
Whatever it was, it sure was a lot of fun. With about only 10 minutes left of fishing on the second day, it was a far worse feeling that opening the last present under the Christmas tree.
