Big bluegills

[agelesssone]

Went fishing with a friend today at a landlocked lake back in the hills in Pegram. MAN, THAT WAS A HIKE!

Down a long ridge, drop over the hill, cross a rivulet, climb another hillside with leaf covered rocks and downed limbs, slipping and sliding, tripping and stumbling. Get to the top of that ridge and skid down the other side.

Get to the lake and there's no place to cast from, trees all around. Having been here last week and having to cut a hole in the underbrush to fish, (with my trusty Swiss Army knife's wood saw blade) I brought along a good tree/limb saw and set to work. 30 minutes later had cleared out a good sized fishing spot. Fished for ten minutes....no fish.
Moved back into the cove/creek bed. Cleared out another good spot for next month when the gills and bass move shallow to spawn/nest. No fishing there now, too shallow.

Moved over to a steep bank, cleared out another spot, started fishing, started catching nice bluegills 8-9 inchers. Had a stringer along cause I wanted some gill filets seeing as how we had eaten our last package two weeks ago. Started stringing up anything that measured 9".

Caught a dozen or so 9'ers and a bunch of smaller ones and decided I wanted to clear out another spot on the other side of the lake (maybe a 3 acre lake). We made our way around the lake and found one spot that had a small flat spot where we could stand to cast (picture steep hills all around this lake, just a dammed up holler) and commenced to clearing it out. Another half hour of cutting, trimming, hauling, and we can finally start fishing. We hit a good spot! Catching nice fish on a steady basis from 12:30-1:30 then it was time to leave (family obligations).

Came home and cleaned twenty one, 9-9 1/2" bluegills. Made up a couple nice bags of filets and had a fun day. Next time, maybe clear out one more hole but get in a lot more fishing time.

[j19bill]

Alot of work but sounds like it was well worth it. Congrats

Sent from my Droid Bionic complete with typos and sarcasm.

[Alphahawk]

Some good Gills at 9 inches! Sounds like my escapades in Summer County about 40 years ago.


Regards

[TNtransplant08]

Sounds like a fun day and adventure! 9 inch gills are definitely nice gills! When I was a kid, I used to go to this summer camp for the deaf back in Wisconsin. I fished the lake every chance I got and that lake was full of BIG gills. Once I was fishing for bass at that lake and I was throwing a medium sized crankbait. As soon as it hit the water, something whacked it. When I brought it in, it was a 11 3/4 inch bluegill! Shoulda checked to see what the state record was. I wonder what the lifespan of a gill is....I threw the fish back in the water, so it would be swimming in the lake still for all I know.

[MNfisher]

Originally Posted by TNtransplant08

When I brought it in, it was a 11 3/4 inch bluegill!

I would pay lots of money to get into 10-12" bluegills!

[Alphahawk]

Originally Posted by MNfisher

I would pay lots of money to get into 10-12" bluegills!

Wait until about June and I can put you on some 10 inch Gills. Above that is a possibility but they don't come along that often out of public waters. It takes the Gills a while to wake up at Laurel Hill...but it will depend on how fast the water warms up. Going to be a great year!


Regards

Originally Posted by MNfisher

I would pay lots of money to get into 10-12" bluegills!

For less than what the average guide on public water in Florida charges, I can put you on some any day of the week.

[IMG] hybrid on ruler oct 4t by tnpondmanager, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG] 10-7-8-july-26t by tnpondmanager, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG] danny's bluegill oct 20 by tnpondmanager, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG] big hybrid april 7 by tnpondmanager, on Flickr[/IMG]