Female Gills

I started several years ago throwing the females back unless I was trying to scrap up enough for a fry.

Just asking if any one else does the same?

I do the same on bluegills and shellcrackers if I can make a positive ID on the females. Not always possible during post spawn times. I have ZERO problem with others who don't throw them back. Biologists will probably say it won't make a difference on the resource. Each to his own.

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Originally Posted by mrdux

I do the same on bluegills ands shellcrackers if I can make a positive ID on the females. Not always possible during post spawn times. I have ZERO problem with others who don't throw them back. Biologists will probably say it won't make a difference on the resource. Each to his own.

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I agree. They're very prolific in most waters and doesn't hurt to harvest them. Bag limits usually are pretty generous.

I say keep what you want,I personally probably dont keep 2 dozen fish all year.

But I know alot believes like you.Keep males-release females.Thats 1 sure way to keep population coming back.

it all depnds on the lake i fish.. there is some ponds i fish that there is an overabundance of gills and actually need some taken out so then i dont mind, but if there not over populated tend to release females

I tend to release the big females to improve the general size of the fish population and all males who are needed to guard the eggs.

As others have said, I have no problem with folks who want to eat their catch, it is just that I really do not care for the taste of fish. Cows now, I can eat a bunch of cow.

You'all wont probally like this.Im only talking about my pond,anything I catch that's not eating size goes out for the racoons male and female.If you remove these small one's you will have a better chance of keepin your pond in good shape.On the other hand I release all I'm not going to keep back in any lake or small reservoir.

It won't take much research to find definitive studies that indicate you should always return the largest MALES that exist in the water you are fishing. Any female can lay eggs, but the MALES control the size of the population. This is especially true with smaller bodies of water.
Mike

I'm pretty much a catch and release fisherman. When I do keep the fish, about twice a year, I usually keep anything that is the right size. I guess there must be people out there that know more than me because I have no idea of how to tell the difference between male and female bluegills.

The biologist I have talked to have always told me there is nothing you can really do to hurt bream populations.

I mostly fish a 200 acre lake and we (community) have been advised to keep everything we catch because the lake has become overpopulated.

I am sure every fishery is different, but I know at least here in this area (Alabama) bluegill especially will bed all summer long. From my observations, I would agree with the biologist, I don't think there is much that you can do to hurt bluegill populations overall.

On a side not, over the years, I have noticed that when the overall population increases, the relative size of each fish seems to decrease, and in years where the population fluctuates the other way the sizes seem to increase.

Oscar