Out of State Gills

[Guest]

Has anybody been doing any gill fishing out of state this year? I fish SD quite a bit and that has been pretty good this year. I used to live in Iowa and really enjoyed the fishing down there. Although more limited in terms of numbers of lakes the quality made up for it. Just wondering if anyone else has been fishing any lakes outside of MN for gills. Scott Steil

[Sko]

The only good place I have ever fished for bluegills out of state is Lake LaSuAnn in Northwest Ohio. DNR manages it for trophy bluegills and you are only allowed 10 or 15 fish a day?, (I can't remember), and only 5 can be over 9 or 10 inches. You also need to make a reservation and they only allow 5 parties on the lake per Saturday or something. We got out there one year on the ice when I was living in that part of the country and got into them really well. It was one after another and we did catch some around 10". Great fishing. I kind of wish the DNR would manage some small lakes around here like that. It's tough to find quality bluegills these days.

[Guest]

Well, things are going in the right direction. The reduced limits will help a little. Iowa has no limit on gills, yet still produce bulls. Less fishing pressure and they stock big gills into lakes. It all helps. There are a few expiremental lakes in MN with reduced limits on gills. The big thing is keeping good numbers of big fish in the lake, balanced with a good number of predator fish. Change is slow in MN and not always well recieved. I believe it will get better.

SD just reduced their "panfish" limit to ten in the NE corner of the state. They call it a panfish management area (5 counties I believe) It is this type of aggressive management that really makes a difference.

Anyone else have any out of state gill experiences? Scott Steil

[Selmer]

Scott, I live in Hampton, 30 miles south of Mason City. I moved here from SD, but where would I go for gills in this area, our favorite lake in SD was Lake Louise north of Miller. Let me know if you have any tips for my area here in Iowa.
Selmer

[Guest]

I can't remember what clear lake had for gills but that is a good fishing lake. I used to fish the lakes South of DSM for big gills. However, you are not to far from Spirit Lake/Okaboji area. That area has some monster gills. If you are just looking for fishing near home. Talk to the IDNR in your area. They can tell you what lakes they stock in your area. Some of the best fishing in Iowa is small farm ponds and very little lakes. Scott Steil

[kjgmh]

I fish small lakes in nw WI. The lakes I fish are hit by a kill off in bad years, but with three mild winters in a row the fishing has been real good the last two years. The fish are either going nuts or not biting at all, so try a couple of lakes. With no snow this year accessing them has been easy. Some years it is a half hour snowmobile ride but now a truck will get you to them.

[Bodyman]

Lake Onalaska on the Mississppi produces some real nice gills. 9" gills are not hard to find with 8" more common. I have caught them over 11". The lake is very shallow with alot of weed beds for cover. Silt was removed from a channel area of the lake some years ago creating alot of deep water with sharp breaks into the shallows. Fishing has improved since the dredging, size and quanity.
Years ago 10" fish were common on the lake but today their hard to come by. Even with the limit of 25/50 the lake produces year after year. Sunfish breed like crazy on a lake like this and the lake can support large numbers of fish. I think a maximun size limit 9" would do alot more to bring the bulls back then cutting limits.
There can be no complaint from the harvest side of view. 7-9" gills are perfect size for the pan and there would be plenty of them with the bulls keeping the balance.
Just a thought. Good fishing

Fishing is Life

[Scott Steil]

Bodyman, very good point about leaving the fish over 9" in the lake! Anybody else fishing out state for gills?

[delmuts]

selmer try looking around the geneava area for some old quary ponds. they may be private. you will need to check. there are one or two ponds south of hampton just off the hwy. haven't talked to any buddy about them for a long time. beeds lake has been running small on the crappies, and haven't heard anything about gils there. if you want call my uncle Ed in bradford. 641-648-3477 tell him delmar told you to call. he loves fishing, but is dealing with another round of kemo, and waiting to start the radiation treatments again. delmar

[delmuts]

i for got about pine lake by eldora. it is south of ackley and esy to find. the guys on the iowa web have been hitting bg's there del