I think a couple things are going on here in this thread. Photo of 2 fish above this post seems to me to be of 2 coppernose BG not regular BG. Others may comment. IMO fish on Rt is male and on Lft is female. Identification has to be made primarily on color pattern because gill flap shapes are not clearly visible due to angle of camera and position of fish flaps. Dark hue of male in comparison to lighter green of female from SAME population, verify dark one is male. Yellow breast of left fish strongly indicates female. Careful comparison of gill flaps is very important in helping to verify sex of both fish. It is always best to compare several to numerous similar sized fish from same water before decisions are made, especially if restocking single sex fish or sex determination is important.
Photo of ericdc's regular BG is from a different water body so this has to be considered when comparing the fish from the two photos. Features of ericdc's fish that indicate male are good photo angle for seeing the squarish, boxy gill flap, typical early spawn season color (not intense or dark), and distinct black tipping of nape scales (a very distinctive feature of males).
If ericdc just wants to catch lots of medium sized bluegill (5-7") then harvest of BG regarding sex can be random. However harvesting with a bias toward more females will eventually over time tend to produce larger average size of BG providing the BG are not allowed to become too abundant. Overabundant BG tends to result in smaller BG.
It is interesting that Cody and Condell responded at practically the same time and both said basically the same thing. It is no wonder they were two of the co-authors on articles about sexing BG.
Last edited by Bill Cody; 03/02/08 08:16 PM.
