Laurel Hill 06-21-2013
 

Went out this A M to take the kayak trailer off the car and thought might as well try Laurel Hill. So down the road I went....persistence paid off. Got into some really nice Gils and plenty of them. Most of the fish were Bull Gills....dark and colored up pretty and between 8 and 9 inches. Caught some females...most of them at the 9 inch mark...they are usually longer but don't have the girth or fight the males do. Caught about a dozen Red ear at the 10 inch mark. Got into a couple of females....the smaller Red Ear pic. The males are really bright while the females less so. Had to paddle to find these fish. The water was pretty clear and actually found beds in about 12 feet of water. Glad I went today as they will fertilize next week and it will be like pea soup after that. These fish really fought hard....made for a lot of fun on the UL. One of my better days so far this year down there.


Regards

Awesome gills!!! Way to be persistent after those gills! You made it happen!

Nice fish and pics, Alpha. You sure do have a knack for catching those gills.

very nice and chunky gills Alpha!!, do you ever keep any of these for the table??, I know you are mostly a catch and release guy, but man to me there is nothing better that some fried gills!!:D

Laurel Hill has been noted for years as a great Gill fishery. It still has some really good fish in it.....but the past two years I have seen a decline in the catch rate down there. A few of us down there have that discussion every time we run into each other while fishing there. We figure from spring up until fall anywhere from 400 to 1,000 big Gills a day are taken out of a 300 acre lake. So while I have not kept any fish from there this year I won't say that I will never keep any from there. I do keep fish for myself and for the elderly here in Columbia. Soon the Gills will move into 30 feet of water down at Pickwick off of a point I fish and I will start keeping some fish from there....and then in September will start my crappie fishing down at Nickajack and will keep...or give away....those fish. Below is a pic of a normal catch from Laurel Hill 3 years ago. Anywhere along the bank you could load up a cooler....the limit is 20....in just a little while. All the fish in that cooler were 9 to 10 inches.....haven't caught them like that in the last two years. Hopefully they are just changing their pattern or in different locations on the lake....only time will tell.


Regards

Man! I bet that was fun! Bummer they might be fished out. 1000 gills a day out of a 300 acre lake is NOT good!

Do the crappie reside close to the bank in september? I missed my chance to catch more than 5 crappie off the bank this spring, I would love to have a second chance in 2013 to do so.

Gigantic gills!

Where I fish at Nickajack I am fishing in 23 feet of water....off the bank....from September through February. Then in March they will move into the bays in about 8 feet of water. If you can find a bank that drops off quickly you should get them. I am sure someone who fishes JPP...Old Hickory.....maybe can give you better info on those lakes you fish.
Regards

Good catch