Afternoon bluegilling

I finally got to slip off and chase some bluegill yesterday afternoon. I used my Fish Cat #4 float tube so was pleased to find the public lake smooth as glass. There was a green cast to the water from a slight algae bloom. I had wax worms and salted shrimp bits for tipping . I used a variety jigs with some Crappie Pro heads I had tied on producing best. Most of the fish I caught were males recovering from the spawn and smaller ones. This lake does have some very nice gills but I wasn't able to find them. I run an old Eagle Fish easy 350C sonar and found most fish at 20-25' along an edge that drops on to near 30. Most of the fish I kept including a couple 13" bass came from shallower weed edges . I and my son were asked by the DNR to start keeping all the small bass we get from the area strip mines .
They don't eat bad when young so I kept a couple.

Looks like a great evening my friend!

Nice looking gills.

Unless you want the average bluegill size to go down, don't keep the small bass. Lots of small bass are the biggest key to growing large bluegill. Many avid bluegill anglers, myself included, use the number of small bass in a lake as an indicator of whether the lake has potential for trophy bluegill.

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Originally Posted by tnpondmanager

Unless you want the average bluegill size to go down, don't keep the small bass. Lots of small bass are the biggest key to growing large bluegill. Many avid bluegill anglers, myself included, use the number of small bass in a lake as an indicator of whether the lake has potential for trophy bluegill.

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I never really made that connection, but thinking back on it all of the very best bream fishing waters I can remember had an abundance of smaller bass.

This lake was obtained 3 or 4 years ago by Illinois. When it opened to the public, there were nice bluegill with some over the somewhat magical 1lb mark. Even with the 10 fish limit, the lake was quickly stripped of the largest males by fishing the beds non stop.
Now with you saying the IDNR is promoting poor management policy by asking to remove small bass, The prospects seem dim for positive results in the future.
I think I'll see if I can arrange a meeting with our fisheries biologist and possibly get some information streams cleared .

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Originally Posted by Illinoisgiller

Even with the 10 fish limit, the lake was quickly stripped of the largest males by fishing the beds non stop.

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This has happened to some of my favorite spots and drives me nuts!

Yep taking the Gills out of the smaller lakes at the rate TWRA allows here in Tennessee destroys the fishery.


Regards

Taking the small bass out is not necessarily poor management - just depends on what the priorities are. If you want the average size of the bass to increase, then it is a good move. However, to pond manager's point, it may be detrimental to the bluegill quality.

Nice gills - Thanks for sharing

I do really like the way you frame the fish in the basket rim. The photos you post have a very nice look to them and really highlight the fish.

What jig hook is in the first pic with the chartruese head? Looks like a great panfish jig, long shank, but still small hook size.

Thanks to all for the comments. The jig in the first picture is a Crappie Pro (Oklahoma) on a black nickel hook. That hook is a bit larger than it looks to be. I got 300 of these in pink color at a good price from a special offer a few years ago. I have tried to use a minnow head for substitute but not the same .I will order more. I need to weigh one.
As for pictures- There are not many places to lay a fish for a picture when sitting in a float tube .lol I didn't need to do it on this report but if the jig can't be seen in the picture I move the jig to where it can be seen.I wish others would take the time to do the same.

Nice fish and I also like fishing when the water is smooth if possible.

pretty fish and interesting comments on managing the fishery. I was thinking about removing some smaller bass from our 2-3 acre pond, but I would rather catch decent gills, so I may leave them.

good looking gills