How big is big enough?...

[cereal69]

That is what she said...

Ok enough clowning. What size bream/bluegill are keepers? I went out (finally) caught about 10 but most were really small (4-6 in) with 4 what I thought were big enough to cook/eat (7-10in.) Is this about average for keepers? Just getting the pros opinion.

Thanks,
Al

[superdave1984]

I keep anything bigger than my hand. And since you mentioned inches I measured my hand to be right at 7 1/8 inches.

[Glowgood Jigster]

Honestly, if there's no legal size limit or bag limit, as it is here in Oregon, and there's nothing but dinks around 4-6", I'll just catch a basket full of them and fillet them out. Overpopulation of bluegill can stunt their growth, so "thinning the herd" can be a help in growing bigger fish. I'm not a biologist, but that's what I've gathered by reading here quite a bit.

[CrappiePappy]

That is what she said...
Ok enough clowning. What size bream/bluegill are keepers? I went out (finally) caught about 10 but most were really small (4-6 in) with 4 what I thought were big enough to cook/eat (7-10in.) Is this about average for keepers? Just getting the pros opinion.
Thanks,
Al

... but, any of them over 6" can be cleaned pretty easily, and they're good table fare. I don't know as I'd fool with any less than 6" long, but then I'm rarely bringing "any" of them home to clean/eat. (but, I'm not normally catching any over 6" long, either :p )

.... cp

[shipahoy41]

6 inches plus for me. After that he's going to Lake Crisco. Under 6 inches and he gets fed to the predators.

Seriously though, half the fun is catching them. If you're looking for a meal, you will know which ones to keep by the feel of them as you heft them onto the boat.

old ship

[joejv4]

I don't go by length when deciding, I just look it over and ask myself - "can I get a couple fillets off this fish?" If the answer is yes, it goes in the bucket, if the answer is no, it goes back in the water.

[SteveJ]

This older lady sitting on the bank said if its got a head and a tail there has to be some meat in between. But for me I want them of a size to fillet most of the time but if it has been a while I will scale and cut each side off.

[kayaker]

Last Saturday suppertime I cooked up a dozen crappie fillets and then dropped in the hot fry oil two scaled 7 inch bream, (the family won't tollerate the bones).
Gotta admit that on the plate - I liked the bream better

[harpenter]

For me it pretty much depends on whether or not I'm in the mood to clean a bunch of fish or not. If you get enough of them, then 6" bluegills will serve up a meal. If you're catching them from 7-10 inches, they're all keepers for me.

[fishdoc]

kinda like crappie to me, i throw the very biggest ones back to improve the gene pool, keep the average (for that body of water) ones to eat.