Thread: What is a keeper?

Originally Posted by dmbutler47

How big does a bream need to be for YOU to keep? I have been fishing a little creek and catching small to medium sized fish, i throw them all back and just go there for fun and to experiment with bait. I catch on average 20 though. but I do see people in other places keep really small fish that i would not even consider. they could be using them for catfish, but they look like people that use every part of the fish! What is a keeper to you?

Keeping those small sunfish is actually a good thing. Culling small sunfish and releasing the big-uns is the best management tool for a healthy fish population. An abundance of small fish usually means a un-balanced fishery and a stunted population is the result. If you want good bream fishing in the future, keep the small/medium ones and release all the big-uns. (the biggest in your lake, river, creek). This is the best management tool and critical for small impoundments. Big impoundments can handle some culling of large sunfish, but small impoundments can not and will eventually result in a stunted population of small fish. Large sunfish are the best breeding stock and should be released. I know, cleaning smaller fish is a pain, but it's best to cull these smaller fish if you want trophy sunfish in your lake, river, or creek in the future. This is especially critical if you don't have a healthy supply of predatory fish in your lake, river ect..

I guess it depends upon your priorities and the water you are fishing. I believe research indicates that bluegills can delay maturation until they are larger. Once they become sexually mature, much of their energy goes towards reproduction instead of growth. Most eggs go into the center nests typically held by the largest male bluegills. Thence, if male bluegill delay maturation until they are closer in size to the largest male bluegill, you will have a better bluegill population / size structure. In my own ponds, I intend to harvest mainly the intermediate size bluegill 5 - 8 inches and let the larger ones spawn until such time as I believe them to be nearing maximum natural lifespan anyway. My lake is still young so I'm not sure what I'll do at that point.

http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/caec/research/currentproj.html