So far, we have caught bigger hybrids than pure-strain northern bluegill - other than a pure-strain that the owner caught two summers ago that wasn't weighed or measured (or photographed - he didn't realize he had a camera on his cell phone), but which he says he measured with his hand at 14". But the pure-strain are reputed to live longer, and ultimately grow larger. I've only been working with these ponds for four years, so the top end of the pure-strains has not been realized yet.

Pure-strain coppernose bluegill outgrow the hybrids significantly - I have one pond that has several that are only two years old and already over a pound, and I've had them reach that size before in two years. A pond that would've been my best pond this year had dozens of 10"+ coppernose in April of 2012 that were only two years old, but then it had a fish kill in August and the fish that died were the big coppernose.