As a fish taxidermist I see a lot of trophy fish. And one of the most common species I mount are largemouth bass. Anyway even with more favorable fertility and ph here New England seems to produce larger Largemouth bass and more bass in the 7 to 8 pound range. Not super common of course but more common than my state of Indiana.

I know this because I used to live and fish in Massachusetts and still go back there on occasion.

Anyway the thing that is strikingly different about the two states is there is virtually no pressure on bluegills in Massachusetts. In fact many people out there consider them trash fish.

Could sufficient bluegill forage gape size availability for larger bass be a factor? With no pressure it seems there would be no shortage of whatever size bluegill is needed to efficiently feed. And lakes I have fished in Mass do not have stunted bluegills. In fact I've caught them to 11 inches.

OTOH bluegills are hammered in Indiana year around with no bag limit.

Last edited by Cecil Baird1; 04/19/16 11:05 PM.
If pigs could fly bacon would be harder to come by and there would be a lot of damaged trees.