Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Controversial Observation Bream/Sunfish popularity

Bob,

From someone that has fished the northeast you are right on the money with your post!

Cecil, Its a deal. Though I don't really have a need for a mounted fish. I have measured many in the 12 to 14 inch range. No fish story. The lake I fish is known for big gills and big SMB but thats because no one fishes for them or takes them.

Most of mine now are estimated against the side of the boat which have a measure on it. We tend to not even pay much attention to them when fishing for eyes. We just toss them back as soon as possible to get down the the desired fish.

That's mind boggling.

I'd venture a guess that a legitimate, healthy 14 inch bluegill would break the state record in 45 out of the 50 states in the U.S. I've still never seen one that was a true 12.5 incher.

That's truly amazing.

Is it possible though these are old fish that have low relative weights? I have a lake near me that grows 11 inch bluegills but they are somewhat elongated.

I too look forward to the photo of a Canadian BG 14" or even 13" long. Since you don't actually measure them I suspect similar to Cecil that they are around 11". Photos of bigins' on a ruler will impress us bluegill lovers. If you truly get 13-14" BG then you may have a couple fishermen want to tag along on one of your walleye trips up north. I haven't been walleye fishing in Canada for several years and I am due, especially if it is with some PB forum members and the possibility of catching some 13" BG. Bruce, Cecil?.

Eric, If you are catching walleye at 25' then you must be fishing during early, mid summer when they are sitting on top of the thermocline; correct?.

My Nebraska standard weight table says 14 inch bluegill equals 3 pounds, 3 ounces. Whew! That would be so much fun I'd probably never come back to Nebraska.

Dr. Bruce, Don't get your hopes too high. No photos yet. Someone explain how a 3 lb bgill does not fight as hard as or harder than a 3 lb walleye. I won't go into how hard walleye fight.

Seeing as how he's broken the 2 lb barrier and then some, if anyone were to ever grow 3 lb BG, Dr. Frankenbruce would be the one!

Of course, they'd probably all have 6 eyes and a bad attitude, but then again 'roids will do that to you. Worst of all, no one would dare go near his ponds again...

If you tied a two pound bluegill's tail to a three pound walleye's tail, the walleye wouldn't have any scales left in about 30 seconds. Trust me, I've caught both. It wouldn't even be close.

Point. Set. Match.
Bluegill

Bill, Love to have folks join us up at this lake. I have been going there for years ( 28 to be exact ) I have indeed measured out 14 inch gills but since thats not what we are after they get tossed quickly. As was stated most are in the 12 inch range but get tons of those. I don'tmeasure them all anymore but put them up against the measure in the side of the boat every so often to see where they measure out at to keep us honest.

Yes I do fish early summer (end of July) for the walleye and fish the thermocline. Also do some weed bed fishing when the weather turns. People on the lake don't seem to take the gils or the Bass and as such they grow out for many many many years. Its a nice lake 7 miles long and goes from weedy shoals to 110 ft deep. Very clear and very dark water at times.

ASfor the question of fighting hard, I never said a larger gill didn't. I also didn't say a walleye did. All I said is its interesting up norht how for the most part they are considered a pest fish. Truth be told walleye fishing can be dull once hooked. a few deep dives and tugs and then slow steady retrieval. Nothing too exciting. My fav fish to catch is the Musky or good sized northern pike.

Burger, you are so right�before I got acquainted with a bunch of you BG fanatics, they were just bait.
Now, next to HSB, they are my favorite fish � what a blast on a 5wt..

What is there NOT to love about a BG..?

HeHeHe See I knew this would be a controversial Subject.

Down south are there any fish that us northerners go for that you just don't understand why we like them?

I just love learning the differnt perspectives of all folks!!! Great Stuff. I have learned a bit more of wher your passions come from around the gills. I am still not a big fan of them, but I can understand it more now. Thanks!!

rockytopper...don't put us ALL in that "cat hatin'" group.

Cats are a favorite in my group...I once showed my wife how I was catching eyes by trollin' cranks over the wingdams on the Mississippi. She caught 3 in 5 passes, and all were 2 lbs or better.

After I'd netted the third she looks at me with them big o' brown eyes and says (I kid you not) "...can we go catfishin' now?"

I've never claimed to unnerstand her all that well...

Matt, I am with you as well. Some of the best fishing and hardest fighting fish have been some large channel cats that I got up in the Thousand Island area of the seaway. Nothing better than fighting a big cat for a half hour or so. Then when you get them - Nothing tastier than some nice large slabs of back meat deep fried in beer batter. mmmmm mmmmmm mmmmmm

The only thing that creeps me out a bit is; even after filleting them you can drop them back in the water and they will swim away a bit. We had an old Indian guide who would do that and you could then see the Musky and larger Pikes hit them off the end of his dock. Since every one in the area went to him to help them do the filleting, the musky and pike were trained to be off the end of his dock waiting for a nice meal.

Yeah Eric, that is kinda weird...seen it before. You won't see an EYE fight that hard, even after his meat's gone!

FYI, Fish Fighting like this is still legal in Nebraska as long as no money changes hands. To legally bet on Fish Fighting, you have to go to Nevada.

Here's some food for thought. According to a biological survey done at the turn of the century a local natural lake had 12 to 14 inch bluegills. I can assure you that is no more. Perhaps the genes are no longer there by removing primarily larger fish and these fish were old underexploited fish at the time. Perhaps that is the case at the lake Eric fishes?

Note however these 12 to 14 inch fish weighed only a pound. One thing I find suspicious though, is although the authors of this text are more than qualified, they don't show data with 12 to 14 inch bluegills listed.

Just basing my opinion on Eric's past posts, I feel he is being honest about the sizes of these bluegill from this lake he fishes. He has said that he has indeed measured them.

Now if Condello said something like the same about 14" bluegill, we'd know to immediately not believe him.

Yep those dentists tell some whoppers! :p :p :p

I remember a dentist telling me "we're almost done" as he drilled incessently on one of my teeth as I'm ready to pass out from the pain. Of course he was still drilling what seemed like an eternity later!

On the lake(named Pike Lake)that I fish, It has for many years ( at least 50 from the people who live there ) has been known as a walleye lake. As such when the locals and the limited number of folks who come in to fish there catch anything but walleyes they throw them back and that may account for the size. I know that there are many very large SMB as well. I caught my biggest SMB there at 24 inches long.

There is also very very little pressure on this lake. In the early summer on an average weekday you might see 1 other boat out on the lake all day. Dusk and night is a different sory. You will see a massive 5 - 8 tin 12 ft fishing boats along the entire lake out trolling for eyes or over rocky shoals jigging with a worm or minnow.

The thing that the family and I love is that its peaceful and quiet and only $350/week for a cottage and boat. Add in that it has some of the best fishing I have ever had then you can understand why I have been going for about 28 years.

I am not sure if this will help explain things as well but here are the species in the lake that I know are there or have caught:

1. Walleyes - used to be easy to catch limit daily now more of a chore
2. SMB - easily catch 20-30 a day and of those about 10-14 will be 16 -19 inches
3. Northern pike - seeing more lately range from 18 inches to 35 inches on average. I have pulled a 43 incher out of there once.
4. Rock Bass - Tons of these now. They seem to be taking over the lake.
5. Yellow Perch - Not as many as there used to be but they tend to have good years and bad. No major size. Max is aroun 13 inches on a very good day.
6. Gills - A mix of bluegills, Sunfish and pumpkin seeds. Tons of small ones around the weeds and rock shoals and a good supply of larger ones as described before but deeper around 15 -30 ft deep.
7. Ling - Mostly very deep but come close at night to shore for feeding.
8. Whitefish - tons and tons very very deep somewhere in the 80 - 100 ft range.
9. A variety of minnows crayfish and other forage. Very abundant. Sometimes kills the fishing because so much is there naturally.
10. Large Mouth Bass - Starting to see some in the shallows and weedbeds. Started about 10 yrs ago when some fishermen brought some in from other lakes and now that there are more cottages around this lake there is more weeds and the LMB are taking hold.

Thus thats whats in the lake. In general the Eyes have been getting smaller even with the slot limit on the lake and the gills and SMB have stayed the same. The YP and Northern Pikes have gone up and down depending on the year and conditions.

I bet the introduction of LMB will have a major impact over time.

Dang Eric, with all those nice and plentiful fish in your lake, it's no wonder BG aren't high on your list. Southern ponds have poor variety in comparison to your lake.

Theo, I am sure it will and in truth in the past 5 years I have seen less and less SMB and more LMB. I am sure it will also hit some of the other species as well.

Bobad, Yes it is a diverse lake, however its nothing compared to Lake ontario for Diversity. The only problem with Ontario is that with all the polution I wouldn't eat anything out of it.

I have been spoiled by great fishing. If you all wanted to have a great time and catch some majoy fish you sould come up to the housand Island area. We have anything from 10-15 lb walleyes to 52 inch muskys to Massive Sturgen to 35 lb lake trout and 40 lb catfish and 16 plus inch jack perch and tons of other fish of good size in there.

I would love to see a good group of pond folks set up a fishing trip up that way!! Let me know and maybe we can set something up!! if you have never been there its a very beautiful place to be in the spring/early summer or Fall !!

Eric,

I have passed through the Thousands Island area on my way to New England. Absolutely gorgeous!