Solid 1 lb. Plus 'Gill...

[iland99]

It'd take more than a couple beers to get me to talk, unless you were torturing me with that "Beast Light" that you guys drink when you go fishing! That was far and away the tallest gill I have ever seen. I've seen a few longer, but none with that combination of "roundness" and length.

If I was holding that gill the way Matt was, all you would see was the fish. Even if I spread my fingers all the way out you wouldn't even come close to seeing my fingertips. Being slight of build has its advantages. Check out these 8" crappies

[Willy]

You know what they say about guys with small hands.

Just kidding

[The Grebe]

What a whopper, hav'nt seen a biggie sunfish like that for awhile.

The 9 inch variety Bluegills are as big as I've seen up close and personal, for a very long time.

On the FM opening page, Matt Johnson is displaying a 10.5" Bluegill, huge! After viewing those fish, it's almost unbelievable to think that the state record is again that size and more.

I've seen sunnies that pushed and were over 2 pounds, not those shell crackers from down south, real homegrown Bluegills.

An old sporting good store that used to be in the Foshay Tower (Coreys) used to sponsor a fishing contest and they always had 2 pound Bluegills in the contest.

We went up to Walker for Muskie Derby Days years ago and they had some huge panfish on ice, Crappies and Bluegills, I guess they were also entrants in a phase of the contest?

What happened to those huge fish, did they all get plucked?

Pelican Lake at Orr used to turn out beauties as did others around the state....you sure don't here about them anymore!

Maybe they got fished down and the genetics that made them that size, became diluted? Still, you would think that there are some left, somewhere?

Maybe there are? Maybe that is why you don't hear about them from those that are forunate enough to catch one, to preserve whats left?

[The Grebe]

If those beauties are 8 inch Crappies, you must only be about 3 feet tall! Very nice fish. Did ya turn em loose?

[Matt Johnson]

Check out this pig... Amos M. Gay's World Record Sunfish... 5 pounds 7 ounces...

Unbelievable!!!

Here's the previous World Record Sunfish that was caught the same day by Raymond F. Lee. He was fishing with Amos at the time... 5 pounds 4 ounces...

Raymond caught his first, and then minutes later Amos caught one bigger. How would you like to catch a 5 pound 4 ouce Sunfish and then watch a buddy catch one 3 ounces bigger you after you? You think you have the new world record, but wham!! Your buddy catches one just a little bit bigger

Both fish came from the Santee Cooper, South Carolina area in 1998.

Good Fishin,

Matt Johnson

[ivegottabite]

I could only imagine the fight those pigs would put up! Even the dinks fight harder than what you would expect sometimes. That would ruin a guys day being outdone by your buddy by a couple ounces but I would still have a smile on my face

[tonyjor]

Wow! Those are huge! I caught a 9.5 incher when I was small and I thought it was enormous. Nice fish!

Matt-

how big was that hog in your avatar?

[Matt Johnson]

tonyjor,

That one went 17 3/4 inches, my personal best.

Good Fishin,

Matt Johnson

[Mr. Pike1]

This brings back memories of a banner day I had on an Ely lake about 10 years ago. We were in a small bay and could see the bull sunfish sitting on there nests. The largest one's we caught were almost the size of a dinner plate. It was like a genetic strain of mutant sunfish. None were measured or weighed. So the true size is unknown. They were simply observed, captured, and released by myself and two friends. I can only hope I one day again can get into a school of these bruts as they are a true joy to catch.

[The Grebe]

I've seen that photo before? I believe the Star Trib had an actual sized picture of it in the paper once and it took up half a page?

It sure seems like it was alot longer then 7 years ago that I seen that same photo, not only in the paper, but somewhere else, maybe FFG?

Can you imaging catching a sunnies like that in open water on a lightweight outfit....it would take all day to land if they fight ounce for ounce, like our Minnesota Bluegills!

They probably don't though....sometimes when big Crappies are caught they tug for a second or two, come to the surface, roll on their sides and then you crank them in on the surface.

Same with some of the bigger LM bass I have caught, they roll over and you crank em in....maybe a mouth full of hooks, or a head full of weeds causes this?

At any rate, I would'nt mind catching one even 1/4 the size of the thug in the picture...(The sunnie, not the fishermen )

['eyesmaster89]

Nice Gill. That is a true pounder. I stayed at a cabin last year for a week on a lake we usually fish. I was fishing most of the time and we got lucky and the sunnies were on there beds when I was their. I think we had 4 that were 10" and 1 went 10.5". We measured them all and weighed one of the 10's and it was like 1.1 lbs. All went back to catch again this year. The 10.5' was really old, and was missing one eye and the other was getting really white and murky, and it was all beat up. Makes you wonder what it went through.

[Matt Breuer]

Man those shellcrackers (Redear Sunfish) like the one Amos Gay got get HUGE!! To this day they get big ones down South, nothing of that nature, but still monterous!

'eye, I had a simailar day here in Bemidji last year. We got 3 over 10" and one went 10 7/8". By far my longest 'gill! All the same spot, within minutes of each other!

Hanson, man that fish must be pretty! I'd love to see one like that come through an ice hole!!

[Matt Johnson]

How about a 12 and 12.5 inch bluegill!!!...

EsoxCop sent me this picture. Talk about a solid 1 pound plus gill!!! Wow!! Very nice fish!!

Good Fishin,

Matt Johnson

[CrappieJohn]

Those are nice fish. Are they from northern waters?

[Matt Breuer]

WOW!!

Great fish!

[Mr. Pike1]

Those fish photo's by EsoxCop are what I was talking about when I mentioned the memories of sunfish that were the size of dinner plates that we got into on an Ely lake years ago. I may never again tangle with these genetic misfits. However, I will continue the search in hopes of again finding them. There is a lake we will be targeting this spring that I beleive may produce some bulls. It is a lake with very limited pressure in an area that is somewhat hard to access with boat. Not a true public access on the lake but an old timer showed us where we can launch and provided us with pictures and a mounted sunfish from the lake that was in the 2lb class. We promised to leave the lake as we found it and only hope to leave with a few pictures and memories of 1-2lb class bulls !!!

As far as big crappies go we have found an area on the Mississippi that consistantly puts out the 14" class crappie. I am hoping this year we can find 15-17" fish. If we can there will be no need to make the long journey to Red lake for the slabs.

[EsoxCop]

If anyone was wondering, I caught them last summer after several years of trying to time the spawn on this lake. It finally paid off! The weights were 1lb 12oz and 1lb 13oz. This year I plan on finding a big female on the nest and am hoping she will be over 2.

[csprau]

Nice Gills everyone! Would you say my chances are better in N. MN over S. MN? I would think the growing season in S. MN lakes would be better for producing larger 'gills, like those record fish that are down in SC that was posted earlier here. I don't think I have caught a gill over 8" thats why I'm asking.

[Matt Johnson]

Both Northern Minnesota and Southern Minnesota lakes have the potential of growing pound-plus Sunfish. Many Northern lakes that are "untapped" will see some excellent large Sunfish populations. However, these populations can fluctuate and produce one year and not produce the next. Some lakes will experience year classes of stunted Sunfish, and sometimes the effects seem to be irreversable. Many lakes that once produced big Sunfish might not anymore because of over harvesting, biological factors or enviornmental factors, especially the smaller lakes. The larger Northern lakes seems to be OK and can withstand some of the negative variables that are thrown at them, however, larger lakes need to be taken care of as well. If you can pinpoint the bigger Sunfish on larger Northern MN lakes you will see some nice fish.

Southern Minnesota lakes, in some areas, are a little more fertile than the Northern lakes and can grow larger Sunfish faster. Many of the field or "farm" ponds/lakes of Southern Minnesota hold some monster Sunfish that will push the 1-pound mark. Certain characteristics allow for these fish to grow fast, but I wouldn't go as far to say they are in a totally different league than the Northern lakes. The lakes further South (like South Carolina, Nebraska, Missouri, etc) experience much warmer temps all year round, allowing the fish to grow exceedingly fast compared to the Northern lakes. There are more 7 year old Sunfish in the Northern states than there are in the Southern states. A 3 year old Sunfish down South is typically slightly bigger than a 3 year old Sunfish up here. Same with Crappies. Not a whole lot of crappies live to be 10 years old down in Florida, Louisiana, etc, but you will seem many (relatively speaking) 10 year old crappies in Minnesota across the Northern belt as well as the Southern belt. Fish grow slower, as a general rule, and the Southern U.S. fish don't experience as much of a metabolic slow-down like the fish experience up here during the winter months. Water temps and activity levels down South will remain much higher on average than up here. The diet of panfish down South is also more meaty and more frequent. Many Northern panfish feed heavily on plankton, zooplankton and other micro-organisms, where down South you see a lot of scuds, minnows, crawdads, larger insects, etc, devoured a lot more. Sure, Southern state panfish still eat their fair share of micro-organisms, but they also snap up a lot more larger morsels as well, and on a more consistent basis.

Now, when comparing Northern Minnesota to Southern Minnesota you won't see as drastic of a change as you would by comparing Minnesota with Southern U.S. lakes. I do believe that some of the Southern Minnesota lakes have a better potential of producing larger Sunfish on a consistent basis and more rapidly than Northern Minnesota lakes. Many of the Northern Minnesota lakes are larger than the Southern Minnesota lakes and can produce higher populations of these big fish, and they also have more places to hide. Southern lakes tend to produce strong year classes of big fish and they grow fast, but the numbers are less than the Northern lakes. It all comes down to the lake type, forage and surroundings when developing large Sunfish. Some lakes just won't see a good population of large Sunfish, and some lakes might have at one time seen large fish, but because of a change in conditions might have seen a decrease in larger fish.

I personally like to target large Sunfish in moving water systems or lake chains. Bodies of water where water is coming in and moving out can produce some monster Sunfish, even if the average depth is shallow. A constant flow of high oxygen, no matter the season, is a contributing factor to a Sunfish's quality of life. You also have more oxygen for vegetation, forage and other surroundings that allow for a healthy Panfish population and growth rate. The winter months don't have as much of a toll on these systems because of it. Having an "upstream" and "downstream" also aids in the spawning process, especially when these channels connect to several different lakes or bodies of water. Shallow pools/bays along current areas will hold fish in slack water during the spawn given the right conditions. I also like these type of systems because Sunfish have more options for hiding and food, making it tougher to catch the brutes, which in turn can mean a better population of larger fish. Many larger current systems will stump many anglers when trying to locate big panfish, myself included. However, I believe there is nothing wrong with that. This ensures that when you do find the big fish, you find more than one and there are less flukes. Big fish will use similiar areas at like times, and you can pattern these fish, even on large current systems/chains where several lakes join.

So, Southern MN lakes versus Northern MN lakes. I think your chances are good in both areas for catching large Sunfish. It can really be a timing thing though. Southern lakes will warm up faster, because they are not only further south, but they typically have more stained water with darker bottoms, and you might experience a better early season bite. Northern lakes typically have excellent late-spring and summer bites for large Sunfish. If I was going to target just big Sunfish during the summer months I would hit the Northern lakes. Water temps seem keep the bigger fish schooled more and in more generalized areas, where the Southern lakes will experience a more scaterred, warm water effect. Larger gills might push deep or hug to the bottom in the weeds during the hot summer months.

I'm sure you could argue this either way and I'm sure some people would prefer Northern MN lakes over Southern MN lakes and visa versa. Both areas will and do hold large fish and the potential of catching a 1-pound Sunfish is there.

Good Fishin,

Matt Johnson

[csprau]

Matt, Thank You VERY Much! Guess I am going to have to hunt them a little differently and look a little harder.

-Critter

[Dan Thiem]

As always Matt, very good points made!