Center Hill Gills

Couldn't agree more. Pennsylvania also has reduced their creel limits on bluegill in several public waters, as have Illinois and Missouri, along with the aforementioned Wisconsin and Minnesota. Perhaps one of these days state biologists in the South will realize that the meat hogs are a minority and there are actually a lot of responsible bluegill anglers who would greatly appreciate regulations in tune with the current science, regulations that would protect rather than destroy our bluegill fisheries. We can only hope.

Originally Posted by Alphahawk

Williamsport is a great spot for Gills...those fish have great genes there...the problem....they never get a chance to grow up. Thousands of fish are removed from there each week in the spring for about 6 weeks straight. KY Lake is still great spot for Gills with plenty of 9 inch fish up there. Nickajack has good Gills and I hear Chickamauga is pretty awesome also....but never fished it....but will this year. We are never going to have 10 inch Gills being more common here until the limits are changed. Minnesota has many lakes with only a 5 fish limit. Look at those Gills out of there...pretty darn big. We just harvest too many of them in TN.

Regards

[notorious]

I always catch large Blue Gill and Shell Crackers while walleye fishing on Center Hill. It seems the target depth averages 18-25' in early-late summer if that helps. I generally fish JPP and DH in spring.

[DUCK_2]

Thanks guys. This does help a lot. I do have a boat and SI. I hope that I do get a chance to meet you alpha and will try to make it to the show so I can learn more about places in TN. It's hard to hit all these places and work around a full time job... I'm like you, I want to go to the Chick as well. I have heard great things about it as well. Anyone out there ever fished it for shellcracker? Thanks to all you for help.

[SAMBOLIE]

Originally Posted by tnpondmanager

Couldn't agree more. Pennsylvania also has reduced their creel limits on bluegill in several public waters, as have Illinois and Missouri, along with the aforementioned Wisconsin and Minnesota. Perhaps one of these days state biologists in the South will realize that the meat hogs are a minority and there are actually a lot of responsible bluegill anglers who would greatly appreciate regulations in tune with the current science, regulations that would protect rather than destroy our bluegill fisheries. We can only hope.

Seems that you have a hard on for those who eat fish (meat hogs). Wild game was not put here by our creator for the sport of catching or killing and then photographing and boasting of the catch/kill. Game is food.

For the record I have not kept a fish in over 20 years. Still, I have no problem with those choosing to eat what they catch (legally). I am not convinced that keeping fish to eat is the primary cause of our depleting fisheries. Creeks that I fished as a kid and young adult produced in quantity and size. Most of those same waters are now filled with silt or other debris and seldom produce a good day of fishing. Crop poisons and other chemicals have taken their share of the fisheries IMO.

If you choose to raise a fish to monstrous size like a body builder that is your prerogative. I certainly hope your fish are steroid free, unlike most muscle builders of today. Never really understood why a man wanted shoulders so wide and arms so big he could not reach around to scratch his ass.

Just my 2 cents for the day.

A note to Merv, Juice and Jimmy before you comment. I have caught a fish in the last 20 years.

There are numerous scriptures in the Bible that deal both directly and indirectly with both gluttony and greed, so I would challenge the idea that God made fish to be kept by the hundreds by people who have plenty to eat.

I have no problem with someone keeping a handful of bluegill for a meal. The problem lies with the mentality that it's not bream fishing (bluegill or shellcracker either one) unless one keeps enough to make the photo with two hundred dead fish laid out on the pavement/dock/truck bed. It's excess and narcissism at its worst. If I had a dollar for every time I have seen someone post photos of a cooler full of bluegill and then brag about how they were providing all the fish for a fish fry for a large group of people, I could buy a few Stradics. It would be one thing if the people keeping inordinate numbers of bluegill were on the brink of death by starvation, but typically those photos are taken in front of a $20K bass boat parked in front of a $200K house. It's just greed and selfishness at its worst. If it didn't directly affect the ability of other anglers to enjoy that resource in the future, it would be different, but it does directly affect said enjoyment or lack thereof by other anglers, and it affects it greatly and for years to come.

As to the assertion that overharvest is not the cause of the problem: I am not the lone voice in the wilderness crying that anglers keeping too many large bluegill is killing bluegill fisheries. To a man, every bluegill writer I know of, every avid, devoted bluegill angler I have read an article or blog or anything by in the last fifteen years, is in agreement on this. But even if all the bluegill nuts were in agreement and the science was against us, we would not have a case.

It's been proven, numerous times, by numerous fisheries biologists with exhaustive, scientifically vetted studies. Average bluegill size structure is improving in the states where informed regulations have been put in place.

For Pete's sake - even another expert bluegill angler in this same thread who disagrees with me on almost everything else, agrees with me on the effect of overharvest.

It used to be socially acceptable among anglers to keep a stringerful of big largemouth. At some point enough scientific evidence accumulated proving beyond a doubt that this was having a deleterious effect on the quality of fishing in public waters, and catch-and-release became the norm. Anglers' attitudes changed. They can change on bluegill but it will take the already-conscientious anglers refusing any longer to allow their fisheries to be raped by self-centered anglers who think of no one but themselves, and demanding that DNRs actually preserve those fisheries and treat them as valuable just as they do bass, catfish, etc. It used to be legal to keep a boatload of big largemouth or smallmouth - did that make it the conscientious thing to do?

People argued for years that the world was flat after we had proof to the contrary. It didn't make the world flat.

[XxthejuicexX]

Samblie, you must have known as you were typing where we would go with your comment I have no issue with a creel limit on Bluegill. I think 30 or so would be plenty. I will say that growing up we did keep coolers full of fish, bluegill, bass, catfish what ever we caught. We also used that to supplement buying meat from the grocery store because we were pretty close to being damn poor. TNpond, those bluegill are impressive. I know it's not true but in my imagination I can see them having a hard time staying upright because of how big they are. Looking at those pictures that has to be the most Merican fish there is. Do they make rascal scooters that small?

[TNBronzeback]

Originally Posted by tnpondmanager

There are numerous scriptures in the Bible that deal both directly and indirectly with both gluttony and greed, so I would challenge the idea that God made fish to be kept by the hundreds by people who have plenty to eat.

I have no problem with someone keeping a handful of bluegill for a meal. The problem lies with the mentality that it's not bream fishing (bluegill or shellcracker either one) unless one keeps enough to make the photo with two hundred dead fish laid out on the pavement/dock/truck bed. It's excess and narcissism at its worst. If I had a dollar for every time I have seen someone post photos of a cooler full of bluegill and then brag about how they were providing all the fish for a fish fry for a large group of people, I could buy a few Stradics. It would be one thing if the people keeping inordinate numbers of bluegill were on the brink of death by starvation, but typically those photos are taken in front of a $20K bass boat parked in front of a $200K house. It's just greed and selfishness at its worst. If it didn't directly affect the ability of other anglers to enjoy that resource in the future, it would be different, but it does directly affect said enjoyment or lack thereof by other anglers, and it affects it greatly and for years to come.

As to the assertion that overharvest is not the cause of the problem: I am not the lone voice in the wilderness crying that anglers keeping too many large bluegill is killing bluegill fisheries. To a man, every bluegill writer I know of, every avid, devoted bluegill angler I have read an article or blog or anything by in the last fifteen years, is in agreement on this. But even if all the bluegill nuts were in agreement and the science was against us, we would not have a case.

It's been proven, numerous times, by numerous fisheries biologists with exhaustive, scientifically vetted studies. Average bluegill size structure is improving in the states where informed regulations have been put in place.

For Pete's sake - even another expert bluegill angler in this same thread who disagrees with me on almost everything else, agrees with me on the effect of overharvest.

It used to be socially acceptable among anglers to keep a stringerful of big largemouth. At some point enough scientific evidence accumulated proving beyond a doubt that this was having a deleterious effect on the quality of fishing in public waters, and catch-and-release became the norm. Anglers' attitudes changed. They can change on bluegill but it will take the already-conscientious anglers refusing any longer to allow their fisheries to be raped by self-centered anglers who think of no one but themselves, and demanding that DNRs actually preserve those fisheries and treat them as valuable just as they do bass, catfish, etc. It used to be legal to keep a boatload of big largemouth or smallmouth - did that make it the conscientious thing to do?

People argued for years that the world was flat after we had proof to the contrary. It didn't make the world flat.

you raise some very good points and i understand what you are saying. the uphill battle with the bass vs bluegill argument is nobody is demanding "Bluegill Boats" , Bluegill Tournament Trails, Bluegill Pro Shops. Find a way to make OTHER people money on bluegills and you will be on your way to trophy fishery mentality While the bluegill advocates such as yourself are trying to fight what you feel is the good fight, weekend anglers, the everyday bobber & worm throwers dont give a rats rear end about bluegill management and future fisheries. they always have been and always will be the "first fish for kids and grandkids and such" the food supply in ponds for bass and other predatory fish. thats the way it has been for years and years and years and i personally dont think that mindset will ever change, right wrong or indifferent. there just is not a large enough following with a loud enough voice to make a change. peoples perception of them is they are in every cove in every lake in the country, every farm pond across the states and they are just little bait stealing thieves.
its a matter of glory and sadly the lonely bluegill never has and never will get a money making or trophy status with the group on a national scale. Sure there will always be the Havasu's and Santee Coopers dotted across the country and such, but those are the exception.
like i said, im not trying to argue with you or in any way knock the bluegill or the life that he has provided for you and your family and clients and i can understand where you're frustration comes from.
as far as the limits argument, well, some people may raise hell with me for having 3 legal & processed deer in my freezer. Wont one be enough for the year? well sure im sure it could be, same as the 2 dozen plus sauger and walleye filets sitting next to the deer. i eat alot of fish and venison. the minor cost of getting a 90-100lb field dressed deer processed for $80 2-3 times a year makes a hell of alot more financial sense than paying kroger or walmart $20 for 1 steak. its better for you and saves money in the long run, why would i not do that if its legal to? hell i would tag out every year if i had the time to. I look at it as buying in bulk and storing, like costco.
and the fish, well again, im not fishing for tonights dinner everytime i hit the water. if i can boat 30 keeper crappies today, im gonna do it, tomorrow too. that never happens to me, lol, but i may not be able to fish again for month or more and in that timeframe, the first 60 filets will most likely be gone with family gatherings and giving some to my older neighbor across the street, or the guy whos property i shoot my deer on. Again, $20 in truck and boat gas and $5 in minnows goes alot farther then $25 at the store in regards to groceries. i dont think that is abusing the resources at all. I keep what i keep by my own will and choice and i clean and freeze them for later.
again, im not looking to pick a fight or knock you or you're opinions.
the above is my opinion and mine alone, maybe everybody here will hate me for it, or agree. but im not gonna stop what im doing or how i do it. just another way of looking at things. In no way am i trying to be a negative person on any of what your saying, cause its a great fight, but its a tough one to try and turn heads and change the old way of thinking. you clearly to do a great job managing those beasts that you post pictures of and my hats off to you for dedicating the time and spreading the word.

[Headhunter]

Priest has some great bluegill. catch a 9" fairly often in may, early June. Absolute tons of 8" fish. Crickets is the key.

I think bluegill are more popular than some anglers realize. If they weren't popular they wouldn't get yanked out by the thousands every spring as Alpha notes. One of the articles I linked to stated that they were the most popular fish in that particular state, and it's a state that has a lot more people than the one we live in. I do think that there are a lot of anglers who look at bluegill as "kid's fish;" but this mentality has not always been prevalent; it wasn't, for instance, when I was first getting serious about bluegill fishing back in the late eighties. It was a regular thing then for Fishing Facts, which at the time was the one serious magazine about fishing and had much better articles and content than the rest, to have full-length articles devoted to finding and catching big bluegill, and none of those articles were either written to kids, or even mentioned kids.

The problem does stem largely from the bass tournament crowd, I believe, because those anglers do look down on bluegill and think of them as kid's fish, and they have spread that perception. I bristle every time I hear it.

But it's a misconception that it was always that way - I have a collection of hundreds of fishing magazines, not just Fishing Facts but also Outdoor Life and Field and Stream and a few other publications as well, to prove it. And along those same lines, even though bass fishermen easily spend more money per fish on unnecessary stuff, there's still an awful lot of money spent every year in this country, easily millions, by bluegill anglers.

I would argue that the biggest thing keeping bluegill from being taken a lot more seriously, in this particular state we live in, and pursued on a regular rather than once-yearly basis by a lot more anglers, is the comparatively poor fishing for them in public water compared to what is available for the species that are actually being managed with somewhat up-to-date regulations, i.e. largemouth, smallmouth, stripers, etc. Laurel Hill, VFW, and Williamsport could all have bluegill that averaged 9" and 11" fish could be a regular thing if regulations like the ones that are already in place in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Missouri, etc. were put into place.

I was all about bass fishing all through high school and most of undergrad - most of my fishing was for largemouth, and I was pretty good at it. The first time I caught a one-pound bluegill, from New Lake in May 1987, my bass obsession was obliterated. I have a Fishing Facts that I got from my grandfather, an issue from the early '70's, that was all about finding bluegill over a pound on deep-water structure in reservoirs; the author of the article was a fisheries biologist, and he claimed that most biologists only had a passing interest in bass because they were obsessed with big bluegill. I realize it's a different world now; but there has been a time when bluegill were taken very seriously by very skilled anglers, and I would venture that if the resource were better stewarded such that more anglers could encounter truly large bluegill, there would suddenly be a lot of new tackle being made and sold specifically for bluegill.

And just for the record, a big percentage of my pond management clients want big bass, not big bluegill. I've been fortunate to be able to create some pretty special bass fisheries; and a good portion of my living is made from pond owners who want big bass; so I have nothing at all against bass fishing. I just wish anglers who don't have access to private water could experience exceptional bluegill fishing; anyone with a Tennessee fishing license can go to Chickamauga and have a very good shot at landing a ten-pound largemouth; but one's odds of landing an eleven-inch bluegill from public water in this state are not much better than Powerball.

[jad2t]

Originally Posted by tnpondmanager

It would be one thing if the people keeping inordinate numbers of bluegill were on the brink of death by starvation, but typically those photos are taken in front of a $20K bass boat parked in front of a $200K house.

Good thing I fish from a kayak or I'd be subject to that kind of harsh judgement. I guess I need to stay in the yak or the fires I start about catch and eat fishing would get much worse.

[jad2t]

It boils down to this:

If you want to eat fish, and most do, you have two choices. You are either buying farmed fish from a contaminated pond from some crap 3rd world country that was fed hormones, or you are paying very high prices for truly wild caught fish.

My choice - catch and eat responsibly. I eat whatever I feel like eating. I happen to like bass and have a strong feeling that people who think they don't taste good either suck at cooking or just have the idea in their head that bass don't taste good that was given to them by catch and release nuts. I also like bluegill and let's be real, nobody wants to waste time filleting a 5 inch bluegill. Give me a cooler full of 9+ inch fish and I'll get the knife out.

I hunt and fish for a reason, to acquire wild protein for me and my family.

[jad2t]

Originally Posted by tnpondmanager

There are numerous scriptures in the Bible that deal both directly and indirectly with both gluttony and greed, so I would challenge the idea that God made fish to be kept by the hundreds by people who have plenty to eat.

So what is the cutoff financially or in terms of how much meat you already have in your freezer vs mouths to feed where I'm not allowed to harvest a bass or a stringer of bluegill? Come on man, that sounds like some Bernie Sanders crap right there.

I'm well aware of what is in the Bible, countless points of wisdom. I am not aware of the part that says if you make enough money or already have dinner planned for the night, you have to release all your fish or not go hunting.

[SAMBOLIE]

tnpond manager,
Thanks for a civil response to my comments.
However, you did not respond to my concern about your fish being fed steroids.
Are they?

[XxthejuicexX]

Originally Posted by sambolie

tnpond manager,
thanks for a civil response to my comments.
However, you did not respond to my concern about your fish being fed steroids.
Are they?

pefd's?

[Heiny57]

Blue gills are for people who can't catch Crappie. LOL 😎