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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
I keep anything bigger than my hand. And since you mentioned inches I measured my hand to be right at 7 1/8 inches.
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.
... 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 )Quote:
Originally Posted by cereal69
.... cp :cool:
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
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.
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.
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 :eek:
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.
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.