Percy Priest Bluegills

[fisher01]

Went fishing from 3:30-5:30 yesterday for bluegills. Used a 1/32 oz jig black/charteuse. Ended up keeping 40, most 8 inch in size with about 10 that ran 9 inches. All caught in about 1-2 feet water.

[bd-]

Good eating right there. A pain in the butt to clean, but great once they're in the grease.

bd

[Travis C.]

Those are some good eating. It also means those bucket mouths should be lurking close by. ;)

[Reel Tune]

Wow, how long and how many of you did it take to catch that many?

Jeremy

[fisher01]

Jeremy, including walking/wading to and from the fishing area to my car, about two hours. Bluegills will school by size, so most of them caught were 8+ inches. Fished by myself, and threw back maybe 6 that were smaller. Also caught about a dozen of small yellow bass, which I also released.

[bd-]

Unless they are just really tiny, I always keep the yellow bass too. They are excellent eating, and even the small ones have a decent amount of meat compared to an equal-length bluegill.

Plus, the yellow bass seem to compete with the white bass, so I like to think I'm thinning out the yellow bass a tiny bit to give more white bass room to grow. :)

bd

[thehick176]

I just wanted to thank you bd for keeping yellow bass. I think they are crappies main competitor for shad and minnows. Most anytime of the year if I can find the yellow bass, crappie aren't to far away. Ever notice when your on good crappie you will catch yellow bass in there with them too? Hope everyone throws a few in the livewell the next time out. You will be pleasantly surprised.

[chaseasl]

awesome

[fisher01]

Yellow bass are great to eat. I normally fish for them in March/April and then in November/December. The yellow bass I caught yesterday were very small, maybe 4 inches in length.

[drrxnupe]

Do yellow bass have a blood line like hybrids/white bass? I catch 'em quite often but throw em back. Didn't know they were good dinner fare'.

[fisher01]

Yes, the yellow bass do have a blood line. I always cut it out when filleting.

[drrxnupe]

Yes, the yellow bass do have a blood line. I always cut it out when filleting.

That's good to know. The yella bellies don't stand a chance from now on.

[bd-]

Do yellow bass have a blood line like hybrids/white bass? I catch 'em quite often but throw em back. Didn't know they were good dinner fare'.

They do have a blood line, but it is much smaller than the blood line on the white bass or hybrids. On a big yellow bass I'll cut it out, but on the small ones, it's so insignificant that it's not noticeable it if you leave it on.

In my wife's opinion, the yellow bass taste even better than the crappie. I like them all.

bd