Quote Originally Posted by tnpondmanager View Post
That will not be happening. I am one of those who do not see bluegill just as a meat fish; especially the big ones such as these which take a lot of work and perfect conditions to grow this big, and are at least three years old, probably four. Overharvest of big bluegill is the single biggest contributing factor to the decline of quality fishing for large bluegill in most public waters throughout the country.

Multiple state DNRs have done extensive research in the past twelve years that proves that overharvesting the larger bluegill in a water body permanently skews the remaining population toward smaller fish. Not trying to be a negative Nancy, but it's frustrating to me sometimes how enlightened and conservation-minded the average angler in this country is today regarding bass, but when it comes to bluegill and shellcracker they have no qualms about loading up the cooler with big fish. And it's just as harmful to the resource as it was to bass fishing when it was happening to that species back in the '60's and '70's (not that I was old enough to remember it, but I've seen photos). Hopefully someday the word will get out enough that anglers will begin to recognize trophy bluegill as a treasure in their own right, and one worth preserving rather than pillaging.
I'm no fisheries biologist, but I agree. One of my fav places to fish was the best public water for gills and shellcrackers I've ever seen. The average size was not as big as your fish, but these were very nice and lots of 'em, too. Word got out about this place, and people descended on it in droves. Although limits were very moderate, a lot of people completely ignored them and kept everything they caught. The place is still a good spot to fish, but it's a shadow of its former self.