Quest for a monster 10" gill (pics requested)

[CALVINIST]

Last night I caught a 9" gill. It was actually a hybrid. Over the last year and a half I have caught about 5 this size.

I am always amazed at how much difference an an inch makes when it comes to gills. When you catch a 7" gill, you say, "dink" . When you catch an 8" gill, you naturally think, "hey, nice fish !" And when you catch one at 9 inches, you exclaim something like, "wow!" or "holy dump" because you know you have caught something extrordinary.

I have never caught a 10" gill in my life, nor have I seen one, but this year I want to catch a bona-fide 10" gill (and I'm not talking estimated, but MEASURED, with a ruler, from the tail to the lips! I think some people do more "estimating" than actual "measuring"). If catching a 9" gill compared to 8" gill leaves me sort of stunned, then how much more will a monster 10" gill fill me with awe and wonderment ! (Forgive me if this is corny ) This year I have trips planned to Vermillion and Annie Battle lake in my quest for a true Bull Gill. And I suppose some of the metro area lakes may have an ocassional 10" monster lurking in it, I sure want to catch one very much. Probably likened to catching a 16" crappie, 31" walleye or a 55" muskie, don't you think? Or, maybe these are caught regularly in Minnesota.

Any tips on taking one this size would be appreciated.

Do hybrids count as a gill?

Also, if anyone has photos of their 10" gills, please post them here so I can drool over them . I know pics don't compare to actually seeing one of those piggies with my very own eyes, but it's better than nothing.

[Walleyeguy32]

If you can give me directions on how to post, I will send a photo.

[Matt Johnson]

Casey,

Good post! I second everything you just said in regards to the admiration of a true 10-inch sunfish. And I also agree that too many people estimate the size of their panfish. There is a big difference between a 9-inch sunfish and a 10-inch, a BIG difference.

A 9-inch sunfish is a darn nice fish, and I've seen a lot of anglers call them 10-inchers. A 10-inch sunfish looks very awkward, and that's do to the fact that it is

A 9-9.5 inch sunfish is definitely something to be proud of, and I would be willing to bet that if more people actually measured their fish, then they would see just how rare a true 10-incher actually is for most parts of MN.

Now, I'm not saying the reports of limits of 10-inch sunfish are not true, because it very well can happen. But, I know that I've looked at several big gills thinking they were 10-inch, only to find out they're 9.25 or 9.5 ater I slap them on a tape measure. And I've witnessed that happen with other people numerous times. I'm very picky about measuring anything I feel is over 9-inches now. And I'll even measure them to the 1/8 of an inch.

Here are a couple 10-inch sunfish lying on my hand for reference. From the tip of my middle finger and up my arm...

Here's a few more just under that 10-inch mark caught last spring, and one from this winter...

I would consider a 10-inch sunfish a true trophy for most people. An 11-inch sunfish is colossal. And anything over 11-inches should be looked at with awe.

I've seen a couple sunfish just under that 12-inch mark, and my heart is still pounding from the adrenaline rush! I've also heard stories of sunfish upwards of 13, and even 14, yes 14 inches! That would be a site to be told!!!

[CALVINIST]

Matt,

those are some nice fish! You have 2 pics with you wearing the blue jacket. Are these the same fish?

[Ralph Wiggum]

I'd say they're different. The top one has a scar near the tip of his pectoral fin. Those 10 inchers are monsters!

[Matt Johnson]

Same day, different fish...

That was actually part of a 3-week-long flurry of big sunfish action that BDR and I stumbled on. Probably one of the best panfish experiences I've ever had. Countless 8.5-9.5 inch fish were caught in those few weeks...

[boneyslayer]

No pics, but have caught a 1lb 5 oz hybrid that made the Pioneer Press champions contest in the 1980's Up North. Now the place is a zoo, Years ago 5-10 fish houses on it all winter, now theres fish houses by the hundreds, but it was caught in late Aug. Beautiful painted face, orange belly, no spots like Pumpkinseeds. Crappies pushed 1-2 lbs. no more, your lucky to see one now.

[hanson]

Calvinist-

I'm not quite the panfish master yet but I'm working on it. I found 2 of the bigger/biggest gills of my life this winter.

Here's one you may have seen before.

9 1/8" at Rush Lake UPL event.

Here's my 10" on a northern MN lake. BDR happened to get one as well right before I caught mine.

[CALVINIST]

Hanson,

Nice pics!

That was a sweet looking fish you caught on Rush, nice round shape, beautiful, bright color. I'll bet the 10" made your eyes bulge out! Seeing two 10's caught at virtually the same time; that doesnt happen every day...

[Mr. Pike1]

Gentleman, I believe I have posted this in the past concerning monster sunfish and crappies. We used to do an annual trip to the Ely area every year. We found a bay that you could see sunfish on there beds. Matt makes mention of 12-14" sunfish. On this glorious day we got into a group of mutant bull sunfish. These bull sunfish were 12" in length and the size of a dinner plate. I have never seen sunfish of this size and most likely never will again. It was a blast to catch and release these monsters of the North.

This lake also held a population of 16" crappies that were in the 2-3lb class. We would drift with small jigs and minnows in a windblown back bay. There were walleyes mixed in but the joy of cathing these beasts was unbelievable. We foung the crappies of this class each annual trip up but in smaller numbers each year.

As stated the sunfish were never again found in the class I mentioned. I know Matt is a sunfish angler by nature and I really wish I had some pictures to share.

I have heard rumour from an old timer in St. Cloud of a lake that still puts out the occassional 12" plus sunfish. I am going to try it this year to see if I can get one of these prized fish. If I do a picture will be shared and if I do I will have to let Matt know the body of water to fulfill his quest for the 12-14" Monster Bull Sunfish.

[BDR]

Matt has really gotten me addicted to the bull gill chasing. Last year was excellent for a good period of time. Like Matt said countless 8.5-9.5" gills. Everyone i have caught over 9 I would have swore it was 10"s. I like to keep a small tape with me so I can be precise. The one I caught with Hanson was just a hair short of 10. I am still searching for that honest 10"er. Bound to get some sooner or later just have to keep fishin lakes that have the potential.

[Cyberfish]

Here you go Calvie , feast your eyes on these slabs!

I don't typically measure fish I release unless it is a total whale! but looking at how the mouth extends past my fingers and the tail well past my wrist, its gotta at be least ten inches me thinks!

[Scott M]

I got two at one lake with a friend this winter. My question to anyone is, what is a trophy gill? A 10" is about 14 oz. Is an 11", 1 lb 4 oz good, or a 12", 1 lb 10 oz the norm. Penny for your thoughts.....

[vermilionfox]

calvinist,

Vermilion is a great place for gills! Love it. E-mail me and we can talk off line about the lake.

My e-mail is below.

[CrappieJohn]

da chise...

Every water is different fron another and what is huge on one puddle might actually be small on another. I have a pair of sand pits in town that are split by a berm and while one gives up a ton of 6-7 1/2 inch fish, the other has a limited number of fish in the 9 inch range. The one with more fish seldom will give up a goodie, but the fish are hitters all day long. The one with larger fish is quite time specific as to when they hit.

So close, so different.

[CALVINIST]

vermillionfox,

Thanks, I'll do that!

[ASMOLEY]

A few years ago on a lake i was fishing for walleyes with my dad and we would get sunfish hiting on an entire crawler! We were catching them in 25 FOW on lindy rigs. When you latched on to one you didn't know if was walleye or a bull gill becasue they fought so good. We managed 15 fish that where 9-12in. It was proably the best sunfish experience i've had in my life and we stubled upon it by accident I'll see if i can find some pics and get them posted

[tommyk]

Here are a few from this winter with their lengths for a visual comparison...

8-3/4"

9"

9-3/4"

9-3/4"

10"

[Tyler Holm]

Its difficult to judge the length of a gill by looking at it. When I first caught this one I could have swore it was over 10, but in fact it is only 9.5. Its much bigger than my hand, but still not an honest 10"er.

I just hit one last night that measured 9.25 and I would have bet money it was bigger than that.

[tommyk]

Here is one more next to the tape and Shimano 500 size reel for scale comparison...

[CALVINIST]

Thanks to all who have posted their pics...keep 'em coming, they look great!

[Scott M]

Tom,

While I agree that what is a large fish depends on the water, I think its a bit different for what's on the wall. If I go to some guys house and he's got an 8 incher up there regardless of where he got it, I gotta wonder why. We could argue all day, but when you look at the Old Fuller's records up in Park Rapids, a nice fish was over a pound to win the contest. My vote is 11" or over a pound is trophy size...and I know how close some fish are. As was said earlier, the difference between 8/9/10/11" is drastic for weight at length. So I guess I answered my own question.

ASMOLEY,

I had the same thing happen to me. Lindy Rigging it in 30 feet of water with a walleye chop and we're pulling in huge bluegills on full nightcrawlers. Craziest thing ever. Sure was fun though, wearing shorts and t shirts in the warm sun on the water.

[river rat316]

I caught one bull last year on a full size bass spinner bait (early june) that I could have swore was ten or 11 inches and when I measured it it was 9.999999 so close to ten it wasn't even funny, this thing was an absolute pig! It inhaled the spinnerbait all the way in and I could fit 4 fingers down its mouth to unhook it easy, (the guy in the boat next to me looked like he was gonna kill me when I let it go, lol) About 2 weeks after I caught that one I caught a true 10 incher in the same area on a square a crainkbait, and next cast was followed by a 9.5"er they are truely amazing fish. The funny thing is the first one that I caught (the 9.9999 one) was probably twice the wait of the true 10"er I have pics of that one I'll have to scan em, and post em

[Roughfisher]

Here's a young Hogsucker with a 2 pounder:

[BOONERBUCK]

i have a cabin in the park rapids area, the lake is private no public access but grandparents have the only decent way to get a boat on the lake, and about 10 years ago the dnr came in to do a census, so they put the nets out and came back a day or so later, and they brought back a bluegill that would not fit in a 5 gallon bucket because it was to wide, i was about 16 at the time and really did'nt relize what they had. they said it would shatter the state record, since that time my neighbor caught one that he said broke the state record but he did not want to risk people trying to get on the lake, so he mounted it and it hangs on the wall at his cabin. i know this sounds a little crazy, but this lake already holds the state record, i am not gonna give the name, but if you really want to know you can do your homework. i have caught some monster gills in this lake nothing over 10 inches though but they are there.who knows there could be another record swimming in there now.