What size do you consider a trophy?

[TurnUpTheFishing]

This question came about from another topic, but what do you consider to be a trophy bluegill?

[deacon]

If it puts up a good fight it is a trophy for me. Call it simply but pound for pound sunnies are the best fighters.

[Bobb-o]

for me i havent caught a gill i would have mounted yet, have caught a couplke 10"ers and tons of 9's but i want a gill to be at least 11" before i get a graphite of it. notice i said graphite, fish like that are too valuable in my opinion to remove from a lake.

[Tyler Holm]

10"er is a trophy, but not worth mounting in my eyes. 11" would be worthy of mounting or replica. 12"+ No question about trophy status.

A trophy is in the eye of the beholder. It's part of a story that you might have shared with your buddies or family.

[TurnUpTheFishing]

By trophy I dont mean you would mount it, but the size you consider to be an accomplishment, or rare. Example, I consider a 20-21" bass a trophy would I mount/repica one, no way, but its a still a very respectable fish.

[jeff042479]

To me, an 8.5 - 9" is very nice, I would consider anything over that too nice to keep. I don't think I know what a 10 incher looks like, but I read the same post as you did and wonder how many people acutally measure their fish and don't just eyeball them. I have been way off when guessing, so I always have a little tape measure with me.

[eyepatrol]

I've never caught a 10" 'gill before, so that would be a trophy for me.

As for crappie, I probably caught my trophy years ago when I was about 13. Didn't measure it, but it weighed 2lbs-14oz on the old scale of that time. It was unbelievably huge. Now days, I'd consider a 16" crappie a trophy.

Not sure if I'd replica a 'gill or crappie. 30" walleye - yes...panfish...never really thought about it.

[harvey lee]

A 10 inch gill is a very nice fish,but it would take a 12 inchers for me to put in on the wall.A crappie to me is of trophy size when it hits 3#.

I have mounted 10 inch sunfish for guys that were put on driftwood and a group of 2 or 3 look very,very nice together.As Tyler stated,any fish can be a trophy if the story is a good one.

I have caught 1 stripped Marlin in my life and it weighed 250 pounds,not a trophy by any means in the Marlin world.To me it was and probably will be the greatest fighting fish I personally will ever tangle with.

[eyepatrol]

This is a good post, and I think that what is defined as a trophy might be angler specific. Some anglers have caught large fish before and perhaps on a more regular basis. Others find it difficult or haven't had the opportunity to catch a larger fish. Case in point...I have a co-worker who, until June of last year had "only" caught walleyes up to 17". That was his biggest walleye. When June hit last year, he caught a 26 1/2" walleye and was very tempted to mount it, but let her go. In his case, it was a trophy fish. However, speaking from my own experiences, I've caught a number of walleyes that size (although mostly in Canada).

So, the definition of a trophy may be angler specific. Some may consider a 10" 'gill a trophy, such as myself, others are in persuit of that 11" or 12" 'gill. No matter the case, all fish are trophies to some degree. I enjoy and cherish each, even if it's a carp or sheephead!