How rare is a true pounder?

[radke22]

In my 21 years of fishing i've never seen a true 1 pound bluegill. That is, until my brother found this lake that was totally private. He got permission and man where we suprised, there is not a bluegill under 15oz in the whole lake. And the crappies, wow, they averaged 1.4lbs and we could have caught them all day long. Its only 9 feet deep and maybe 8 or 9 acres. Has anybody else ever heard of such a lake that has the ability to hold true 1 pound bluegills?

[CrappieJohn]

There are tons of these small puddles around if you look hard enough and most of them are just so-so. Once in a while you will trip over a bonanza. Around my home here in the SE of Mn, we have ponds like this all around town....and in town. One or two of these are private. One in particular, and one which I get to fish with another FMer who has a relative living on the lake, has an outstanding population of huge sunfish and crappies that demand you step up to four pound line! And this is no bull! These fish are as strong as Rottwielers with fins.

We do not keep fish caught here because they are very prone to the "black spot" and are full of yellow flukes. Strictly c/r which is ok. I guess I have heard of some taking a few for the table and maybe a couple for the taxidermist's knife, but that will not hurt either.

I have never bothered to weight the fish, but a ten and a half inch sunfish with shoulders two inches thick is a sunfish in anyone's book. The crappies are thick too, with some being in the twelve to 13 inch range.

A piece of advice....don't tell a soul where this water is and don't ever mention how to get permission! The bulk of the people will be very good on the ice if they ever get, but the two or three that are not so consideraate will foul it up for all. Trust me. Seen it happen a dozen times!

Congrats on your honey hole. Keep it one!

[Matt Johnson]

Those lakes are gems if you can find them. Some of my biggest panfish, both crappies and bluegills, came from lakes that are less than 40 acres. The lake you found sounds like a sweet spot. Only 9 acres or so, that's something I'd keep to myself and very close friends

Good Fishin,

Matt Johnson

[mille lacs muskie bum]

I've got one like that but there actually is small fish also . Its about ten acres or so but it holds some real giants.

[Ely Lake Expert]

I know of a lake like the one you speak of in the general region of URL, but if you find a school of crappies in this one it makes upper red crappies look small. One of my dads friends knows about it and I go with him on occaision. Very few people know about it and most never will.

Ryan

[The Grebe]

I have caught 1 true 1# sunnie...entered it in a fishing contest up by Osakis and did'nt even place! I have caught a ton of 12 to 15 ouncers, but that pounder is really elusive for some of us.

I've seen a few fish over 2 pounds...in the freezer at a sporting good store that used to be in the Foshay Tower, Correys was the name of the store.

My biggest Crappie was a 15 inch black Crappie, which I got out of the Mississippi. Like with the sunnies, I have got a truck load of 15 oz. to 1# 4 ouncers, but that seems to be about the tops.

I still hunt them though, I enjoy the chase as much as the catch! If you dot all the i's and cross all the t's and get into the fish by the use of your own knowledge and ability, hey, to me that is the very best!

As far as the little lakes and ponds go....you better know who you are talking to before you give out information, because the news travels fast! I told one guy I thought was trust worthy (Should have known better, burnt me once years ago) about a little 32 acre lake that had an occassional pounder come out of it and lots of 12 ouncers and above. It was like a pyrimid scheme within a week and within one season, the lake stopped producing even 8 ouncers....potato chip city now! It's nice to show em off, but if you tell where you got em, 90% of the time, if the water is small, the fishery will dry up due to pressure.

[gman2002]

i think u need to talk to me radke 22 . i promise i wont tell schmotzie!!!!!!

[juggs]

In Iowa, we call these little bodies of water farm ponds and they can produce monster fish. In fact, the state record crappie was taken out of a small lake that used to be privately owned, was bought by the DNR, I believe, and opened up to public fishing. Once they starting hammering the huge slabs word got out, the state record taken (and who knows how many other trophies), and before long it was a ghost lake. At least that's the story I heard when I lived in that area. My advice: tell no one and enjoy.

[decoy]

I have several of these spots. Huge fish. I made the mistake of taking an "acquaintance" who had the GPS on in his pocket. Now everytime I venture out to this lake you can bet he's there with a different person he is trying to impress.

Moral of the story... now, I'll only take my brother in law or my two fishing buddies.

The problem with the small pond is, if you get a few guys on there that keep everything that comes through the hole, it won't last for very long. Especially when their motto is, "Heck, you'd never catch all of the fish out of here." I'm all about taking people to good lakes, but I've learned to keep my mouth shut.

Matt, one of these lakes I fish has sunnies, crappies, perch, and bass. How do you search for the craps and gills on a lake with no predation? These fish just don't care about hiding....

decoy

[Matt Johnson]

Most often then not there will be some kind of deeper water, you can bet the fish will be there, especially in the those tiny lakes. Any deeper holes will hold fish. I would also check any sort of structure that stands out, like a hump, point, saddle, etc. There won't be a lot of options and these fish will most likely be in the most obvious spots. Sounds too good to be true, but thats how it seems to work in those smaller lakes. If you know the name of the lake then look it up on the DNR webpage and take a look at the lake map if you haven't already. That should give you a pretty good idea of where you want to plan your attack.

Good Fishin,

Matt Johnson

[abens1078]

Decoy,

Would you be allowed to put in 'artificial' structure? You mentioned it was a pond and I thought maybe the owner would give you access at nighttime during open water. You could set out some small stake beds or small brushpiles, ya know, give mother nature a little hand. By doing this during open water at night you won't have your structure laying on the ice for the world to see. If you set these structures near the features Matt mentioned you should have an edge over your GPS loving buddy. Sorry if this not an option for you.

We have a small pond and we like to experiment with different structures every 2-3 years. Good luck

[sdghsdgj]

how do you guys find these places?

[CrappieJohn]

By investing a tremendous amount of time!

[Powerstroke]

I fish on a small (60-100 acres) lake near Mille Lacs that gets greatly overlooked because of its proximity to the big lake.

My lake may not hold walleyes, smallies or muskies but, it has produced a 40" northern several sunfish in the 10-12" range and this summer we caught a 16 1/2" blk crappie on a day when we couldn't catch anything smaller than 12" crappies.

[decoy]

The lakes I fish are public... Structure adding is a posibility, but the lake is over an hour away, so not likely for me.

Anyway, there are many lakes like the 10-12 I know of that are less than 100 acres. I fish these a lot. It takes time to check out these spots. Personally, I feel a guy needs to be mobil and willing: willing to work, drag a portable out, drill a lot of holes, and spend a few hours with a vex. and a jig. As a matter of fact, I am going to explore a new lake or two this weekend. Can't wait. One of them hasn't had anyone on it for 3 years. One of the locals I talked to two weeks ago said in 2001 he saw a few slabs dead on the shore in the spring, so it was either winter killed, or over populated with big, old, and dying, grandma craps.

To me a lot of dead means winter kill, a few means... I better check it out. So, I'll be out there. Good luck to all.

decoy

[delmuts]

hey tom. since i live in iowa, i don't know, but do wonder if some one offers a book that would show the little ponds and lakes that are public in the state or counties ? here we have a book that shows many of ours.( it doesn't cover any private ones) it would give many folks a place to start looking. del

[Walleye #1]

Some of the best places to catch big bull gills are farm ponds. Growing up in NW Iowa, I often times fished these farm ponds and were often times rewarded. Once with a true brute 1lb and half gill and one 1lber. The 1 1/2 was actually amongest the top ten in Iowa for awhile, it measured a tad over 12 inches and could barely fit it a five gallon pail. I don't know if it is anymore. The thing felt like I was pulling in a big bass. It has to rate amongest the best fights I have ever had with a fish. If only it would have been through the ice! So if you get the chace don't overlook the small ponds or sloughs. There are some real lunkers swimming around these places.

Walleye #1

[decoy]

Do the lakes in Iowa freeze over for long? I think that is a very big factor. For example, In NC where I am from, a lot of the little farm ponds are from 2-10 acres and at most from 6-10 feet deep. This type of hole would never keep fish alive in a colder climate.

I caught a 10.5 inch pumpkin seed in a 1/4 acre pond this past July while fly fishing along with 20-30 other 10+ inch gills. They were slamming a parachute hopper fly. It was fun. If I can find the pic I can send it to whoever.....

[CrappieJohn]

Del....I have not seen any map or book of maps which show the structures you are looking for spcifically, but county road maps might. The map would have to be very current to be of much use with the way things today.

Re you coming up on the 15th to Wabasha and the Backwaters Brawl?

[delmuts]

decoy. usualy about 4 months worth! yes, up here any shallow ponds with no fresh water feeding them will have winter kill. tom , probably not.i'm shy of the drive with the weather, plus still working on the back problem. i may give you a holler this spring! del

[osakisresort]

Well, A true 1 pound bluegill is rare in most lakes, but I will have to say that Lake Osakis can produce 1 pounders like nothing. I would say that we get at least a couple a week during the peak of summer. And crappies can go 1.5 pounds but seem to be hard to find, well at least for me. If your looking for big sunnies, august on Osakis would be my pick for minnesota.

[Pooh]

how about 15 pound northerns in a irrigation pit!! the pit is only about 50 yards in diameter. my buddy never put em there but they seam to be there. he did add some panfish but the northerns got em all.

[FI Guide]

rare but matt does it all the time

[Tofishem]

Like this one!

Bruce