hmmmmm?........

[jeff127]

I have a question and was wondering if anybody has an opinion.(just something I thought of between the fish I was catching tonight) A small lake I am fishing had a fairly hard winterkill and the bluegills I am catching are big. When keeping some should I weed through them----taking only the males ------ or should I keep a mix of the females/males. All I am catching are the larger ones with only one or two smaller ones per outing. Basically it seems nothing is coming up for successive year classes and could throwing back some of the females help boost the population. This is a small lake so what I keep could have an impact.

jeff

[Matt Breuer]

I would be SURE to throw back the big bull males. Once a significant number of bulls are taken out of a lake, they have a very slim chance of recovering numbers of that size. It sounds like a pretty sweet honey hole, maybe you should consider releasing all of them for future fishing fun and consistency.

During spawn the females can deposit more than 50,000 eggs, and it's the males duty to protect them. Since bluegills will eat each others eggs, and other fish will also feed heavily on them, you need a strong male to protect the bed. So, this is a tough one, you need the female for eggs, and you need the male to protect those eggs.

Make a stong size limit for yourself would be my suggestion. Limit yourself to 6 or 7 fish, and those 6 or 7 must fall between a certain length, say 6.5" to 7.5".

We have rule to keep 10 or less for the table if in the mood for 'gills, they must fall between 6.5" and 8". We also have lakes that we don't keep any fish out of, like yours, they're small, and we want them to be there, and be big, year after year!

[jeff127]

matt ---I am definately looking for quality fish in the future and I do usually let the bigger ones go.

Its hard to sort through them when they are all 8.5 to 9 inches long. Its like they were made with a cookie cutter. I will definately be releasing more of the "bulls" in the future.

Thanks

jeff

[CrappieJohn]

Jeff....don't forget to "forget" company when you fish this jewel either. The fewer people who know about it, the better the chances of keeping it a spot with decent sized fish. Word gets out and pooooof.

[bdiddy]

Say Jeff-----were we talking about the same lake in a different forum??? I think I know the lake your talking about but your secret is safe with me. I live a block away from it and don't want to see it over fished either, although there were quite a few dudes out there last weekend.

[jeff127]

no this isn't the same one but you can find some nice bluegills out there............If you find the right spots.

jeff

[Matt Breuer]

jeff127, I see you're from Chaska, you can surely find another lake close by with eaters! We were on 'Tonka for the tourney, and I must have caught 150 'gills and could have easily taken a limit of beautiful eaters, sadly not a big fish to be seen all day!

[muskybuck]

bdiddy, where "exactly" did you say you lived again???

[bdiddy]

Musky---with a screen name like bdiddy, you know I must be on the west side . Jeff, was out to that small lake again last night, two guys out there but it was a different story for me, really tiny sunnies. There were alot of small ones that were kept and thrown out on to the ice never to see the lake again which kind of angers me as this lake does have some potential if it didn't winterkill every year like you said. I might give up on it and put in my time and effort elsewhere. Good Luck with your awesome sunny hole. Anybody who puts the time into fishing those smaller lakes to find the big ones deserves the fruits of thier labor!!

[bdiddy]

Just kiddin Ya Musky! I live on Mitchell Lake by Hwy 5 and Dell Road. Familiar wit da area?????