Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Proper Bluegill Handling

Ken, if you will accept a Redear as evidence towards BG survival, they can indeed survive when the best you can do is cut the line.

I caught one of my tagged RES on the beds earlier this Summer; he had the (circle) hook stuck inside his mouth (not back as far as the gills, fortunately). I was pretty upset with myself and disconnected the snelled hook from the snap swivel on the line, then released him. The next day, he was back on the nest and remained there for over a week, until all my shallow-water RES seemed to be done with their spawn for the year.

A week ago, I caught him again (verified same RES by tag number), this time hooked in the lip like a circle hook is supposed to. He had managed to lose the prior stuck hook and had been feeding well enough to have gained weight. Hopefully I'll see him again in the future.

I wet my hands before handling any fish that I think I'll be putting back in the pond; I keep my "keeper" bucket next to me when I fish for convenient hand-dipping.

Now if a sunfish has bleeding gills, I figure it's a lost cause and go ahead and remove it from the pond.