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Thread: The biggest blue gill I have ever seen.

  1. #21
    Boolit Master
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    About 1960 my grandfather had a small stock tank dug in one small pasture to provide water for his milk cow.
    A few years rocked on by and I found some perch in a creek near by. I took off my Tee shirt and used it for a net to trap a few fish in shallow water. I then carried the tiny fish in my wet shirt for a 1/2 mile and dumped them in the small stock tank.

    The clock keeps running and it is 1966. Me and my baby brother went fishing in the little stock tank after seeing grasshoppers slaughtered by the fish. We had no luck so we left our fishing lines in the water and went to lunch on a smoking hot day.

    After lunch we returned and his rod and reel were gone. Since he was only about 12 and did not swim that well I volunteered to do the search for the rod and reel. I took off my shoes and waded in. I located the rod in the deepest part of the tank and walked it out until he could take it and reel it in. It had a huge perch on the line. It was a little larger than the hand of a large adult male and was about 3/4" thick.

    We still talk about that fish more than 50 years later.
    EDG

  2. #22
    Boolit Grand Master GhostHawk's Avatar
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    A 9 inch Bull Gill is in my opinion a trophy bar none. IMO a 10lb northern pike, 5 lb bass or walleye is nothing compared to the work it takes to find and convince a big bull to bite, then get it to the boat.

    I've caught a couple, wife was laid up this year with back troubles but next spring we are going on the hunt for wild 10" gills.

    Mostly I keep 5 to 8" gills for eating. Those big ones need to be thrown back to keep their gene's in the gene pool.

    And I always said if bluegills got to 20-25 lbs I would not swim in Minnesta waters. They'd rip a leg off any time they felt like it.

    I am happily into my second childhood and enjoying it immensely.
    I truly believe we need to get back to basics.

    Get right with the Lord.
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    Get back to thinking like our forefathers thought.


    May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you
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  3. #23
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    gwpercle's Avatar
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    LIKE LIKE LIKE ... I'm hitting our like button .

    Nice Catch !
    Gary
    Certified Cajun
    Proud Member of The Basket of Deplorables
    " Let's Go Brandon !"

  4. #24
    Boolit Buddy

    NC_JEFF's Avatar
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    The biggest I've seen was similar to yours, a 11yr old boy caught it on a family lake here in western NC it was the size of a dinner plate. Yes we threw it back I wanna see another kids face when its caught again

  5. #25
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    Texas by God's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by gnostic View Post
    Seeing your Bluegill takes me back to the days when we ate fish on friday. do people still do that?
    The local cafe has a catfish special every Friday night and sells out every time. I've never been a fanatic fisherman but a cane pole and a stock pond bring back sweet memories. I thought I was hot stuff with the 9" bluegill I caught with a grasshopper as a child. I've been meaning to show you a neat little rod & reel I saw recently, gnostic. There was a thread where steel fishing rods were mentioned. This one would be high sport for blue gills or crappie!

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

  6. #26
    Boolit Buddy
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    Quote Originally Posted by frkelly74 View Post
    ... that's it. I'm coming up there. Even though I don't know where it is. I'm gonna have to start trying every pond i see!

  7. #27
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    Trolling for walleye in a small lake I had a bluegill smash the spinner rig I was using. Huge fish, I should have had it weighed, might have been a state record! I released it since nothing else was biting that day... wind was ripping and water was to rough to really be fishing. When you have 3' waves on a tiny lake it is bad! The bigger lake we wanted to fish was just across the road and it had waves coming over the road...

  8. #28
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    I caught a 14" one in Idaho 40 years ago. I have not lived near bluegill water in a long time.
    [The Montana Gianni] Front sight and squeeze

  9. #29
    Boolit Grand Master
    white eagle's Avatar
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    that is a dandy for sure good job
    Hit em'hard
    hit em'often

  10. #30
    Boolit Master
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    The most beautiful fish mount I have ever seen was two 3# bluegill, a male and female, in spawning colors. A 25# steelhead is nowhere near as impressive as a 3# bluegill.

  11. #31
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    NC Jeff,, you aren't far from me,, (I graduated from RS,) and yes,, we do have some big bluegills in our area. It's been a while since I checked,, but I believe the NC State Record was caught in WNC from a farm pond. I also knew a kid many years ago,, who showed me a frozen bluegill he had caught. It would have broken the State record IF,, IF,, he had taken the time & effort to get it weighed & certified. The State record is over 4 lbs.
    HUGE fish like that are true trophies.

  12. #32
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    That is the biggest blue gill I've ever seen, sweet!
    Charter Member #148

  13. #33
    Boolit Master Drm50's Avatar
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    Lots of Bluegill fishing around my area. Enough that I would never have to eat bass. I have never caught a 12” Gill, let alone 2 pounders by the dozen. Best me a buddy did one time was 37 gills that weighed 21 lbs. Those were average 10”+. One summer evening while wade fishing for Small Mouth I caught a Rock Bass 13 7/8”, just enough under I couldn’t claim 14”. I don’t keep fish in the summer around here.

  14. #34
    Boolit Master
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    Some one earlier said most of the larger gills should be put back. I totally agree. With modern advancements the intelagent fisherman can decimate a lake in less than a year. I have seen it twice.
    My limit is 6 per day unless i have a couple meals in the freezer, Then i may keep 3. An i never keep any over 8"
    There is no reason to believe me. In a 5 year period (winter fishing) i fished the same exact spot 3 times a week from freezup to black ice. I never caught less than 25 fish a day, with half being over my 8" limit. Minnesota put special regs. on this lake. To increase the northern quantity and size. To this day i haven't had as good fishing. An that happened in just one year.

  15. #35
    Boolit Master gnostic's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Texas by God View Post
    The local cafe has a catfish special every Friday night and sells out every time. I've never been a fanatic fisherman but a cane pole and a stock pond bring back sweet memories. I thought I was hot stuff with the 9" bluegill I caught with a grasshopper as a child. I've been meaning to show you a neat little rod & reel I saw recently, gnostic. There was a thread where steel fishing rods were mentioned. This one would be high sport for blue gills or crappie!

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk
    I mentioned my uncle heated up a steel fishing rod up to burn/remove an obstruction from a 22LR barrel... I think eating fish on Friday was a greek orthodox religious custom years ago... Very cool stick, pan fishing with it should be great fun...
    Last edited by gnostic; 08-08-2020 at 02:31 PM.

  16. #36
    Boolit Master Ozark mike's Avatar
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    Been pulling trout and a few squawfish out of the river here some good ones too dont know the size but sure do taste ok
    Those who would trade freedom for safety deserves neither and will lose both

  17. #37
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    Nice fish!! I was fishing with my wifes uncle in a small lake in the Poconos one fall and we started catching big blue gill when fishing for bass with minnows. He said just throw this trash fish on the bank and let the birds have them. We're talking ones about the size of a 8" plate. We don't see that size in Colorado, they were the biggest I have ever caught. When he was not looking I nudged them back in the water, it would have been a waste.
    Steve,

    Life Member NRA
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    NAGR member

  18. #38
    Boolit Buddy tryNto's Avatar
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    In the early to mid-'60s, my grade school days, Fish Friday was the thing in the Los Angles Unified School District in CA. I remember being told it was to do with the Catholic Church.

    Nice B-Gill always loved to catch and eat them.
    Casting, Reloading & Shooting

  19. #39
    Boolit Master
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    My best buddy in grade school was Roman Catholic. No meat on Fridays but fish or something else (usually pasta) was OK. He was really appreciative of a Friday invite to dine at our house! Seems that rule don't apply anymore. Like a lot of things, rules change according to organizational needs I guess.
    R.D.M.

  20. #40
    Boolit Master
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    missed breaking the record by 1.5oz......

    Click image for larger version. 

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    https://www.5newsonline.com/article/...d-9bdc09e197bb
    Bob

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