Bluegill Conservation

**PanfishHunter** · 07-22-2013, 03:54 PM

I completely agree, stricter limits need imposed nationwide. I am no trophy catfisherman, but when we do catch a large Cat, we put it back, because the genetics are there. We usually keep our limits (25 per person per day) and we only go one day a weekend, and we dont go that often. In the spring, my dad fished with my cousins for 4 days, and they caught 320-somethin pounds of cats. They kept that many because my cousins only come once a year, and they love catfish. we also had a large fish fry at our family reunion so that helped with that. Othere than that, the only time ive kept a bluegill is for catfish bait.

**T.C.** · 07-23-2013, 02:35 AM

Originally Posted by PanfishHunter

I completely agree, stricter limits need imposed nationwide. I am no trophy catfisherman, but when we do catch a large Cat, we put it back, because the genetics are there. We usually keep our limits (25 per person per day) and we only go one day a weekend, and we dont go that often. In the spring, my dad fished with my cousins for 4 days, and they caught 320-somethin pounds of cats. They kept that many because my cousins only come once a year, and they love catfish. we also had a large fish fry at our family reunion so that helped with that. Othere than that, the only time ive kept a bluegill is for catfish bait.

OMG!!!! You have ruined that fishery! It cant recover! Only take what you need! You may not have any big ones in the future if you continue! OMG OMG OMG. The bluegill are becoming endangered............FL has been one of the hottest bluegill destinations ever with thousands of out of state and resident fisherman coming each spring and summer and taking home limits and lmits and limits. I guess that proves research done up north is only good for "up north"............

**tnpondmanager** · 07-23-2013, 10:21 AM

I already mentioned, more than once, that I've seen it happen multiple times to public lakes in southern middle Tennessee, which is not "up north." Furthermore, I traveled to the panhandle of Florida just a month ago to fish for hand-painted bluegill on the Dead Lakes. In two days of hard fishing, I caught seven; and no one else was catching any. If I've ever fished a body of water that had been overfished, it was that one.

Here's an article from a month ago in the Florida Sportsman in which the author quotes a Florida fly-fishing guide as saying that the fishing for big bluegill is not what it once was in Florida:

Bluegill Fishing on the Fly - Florida Sportsman

Here's a recent article about Lake Okeechobee rebounding, in which a state biologist is talking about how well the bluegill and redear are doing - then she cites as example the fact that the bluegill are averaging seven to eight inches and some of the redear are even nine. This from a lake that twenty years ago, according to one guide's website, was producing stringers of two-pound bluegill.

Anglers, biologists agree

For a biologist to be excited about a nine-inch redear or an eight-inch bluegill on Okeechobee, tells you how far that fishery has fallen just in the recent past. It's the seventh-largest freshwater lake in the U.S.; if it can happen to that lake, it can happen to any lake. And, as I already mentioned in a previous post, multiple large lakes in southern California that as recently as two years ago were some of the best public waters in the world for trophy bluegill, are being fished out as we speak. But by all means, keep yanking out all of the big ones you catch. Don't think about other anglers - they don't matter. There aren't many top-notch public bluegill fisheries left in this country, so since you obviously live near one, make sure it goes the same route the others have.

**T.C.** · 07-23-2013, 02:06 PM

I will continue to keep what I want, its my legal right as a tax paging, license carrying fisherman. I wasn't aware that guides are biologists and can determine the current state of a fishery. Guides are human. If you think me keeping the few hundred a year that I do is going to hurt the st johns river you are delusional. Over harvesting is not always the main factor is poor fishing anyway. There are various reasons that can cause bad fishing. If you have a problem with me taking 2 or 3 people fishing and bringing home 50-60 fissh to split up between us then your just gonna have to get over it. I go 5-6 times a year and get what I need to last me the rest of the year. But I really don't care what you think anyway, I just can't stand folks who push their opinions off on others and point fingers.........your probably a liberal anyway, so I understand

**chaunc** · 07-23-2013, 02:21 PM

SYG, when your spots dry up, maybe you can fish his ponds for the money, and release all HIS big gills. Sounds like the only other option.

**PanfishHunter** · 07-23-2013, 02:54 PM

Originally Posted by Southern Young Gun

OMG!!!! You have ruined that fishery! It cant recover! Only take what you need! You may not have any big ones in the future if you continue! OMG OMG OMG. The bluegill are becoming endangered............FL has been one of the hottest bluegill destinations ever with thousands of out of state and resident fisherman coming each spring and summer and taking home limits and lmits and limits. I guess that proves research done up north is only good for "up north"............

Earth to SYG: I was talking about CATFISH, not panfish. Yeah, we take 35 to 50 each trip and after that said trip we have a fish fry. I also said we throw back the big ones...
320 pounds of Catfish isnt alot by any means. considering that we usually catch em in the 2 to 10 pound range. Apparently Texas is "up North" now.

Look, i see you are getting defensive. This is because you are wrong and you know it. But you dont have to be a hardbutt about it.

**tnpondmanager** · 07-23-2013, 03:10 PM

I'm as far from a liberal as one can possibly get. Republicans can sometimes be less protective than they should when it comes to the environment, but aside from that issue, I'm staunchly conservative, mainly because it's the party that still has a few members who believe the Bible is truth.

It has nothing to do with me pushing my opinion on others - I'm not the one being self-centered here. I'm just trying to get you, and other anglers who think the world revolves around them such that they don't have any responsibility to other anglers who fish their waters, to stop fishing like you own the lake and your actions don't affect anyone else, because they do.

As far as your assertion that I can't possibly know anything about your fishery because I'm a guide rather than a biologist, this holds about as much water as saying that Lebron James can't possibly be as good of an athlete as someone who has a degree in sports medicine. Infisherman magazine has a four-page article in their current issue on growing trophy bluegill, written by a very successful pond manager in Illinois - who has zero degrees in fisheries science, i.e. is (technically) not a biologist. I think if you polled the members of this forum who fish public water for bluegill on whether they'd rather have a biologist from their state, or me, manage their favorite lake for trophy bluegill, I might get a few votes.

There are a handful of states where the biologists care about bluegill, and are actively managing public waters to optimize the numbers of large ones; but most states have biologists that are being negligent, at best, when it comes to this species. If the state biologists were doing their job, the trophy bluegill fishery at Lake Perris would not be a thing of the past, nor would the one at Okeechobee. So to say I don't know what I'm talking about, but they do, gives new meaning to the term "weak argument."

**PanfishHunter** · 07-23-2013, 03:28 PM

tnpond, you said it exactly the way it needs to be said!

**T.C.** · 07-23-2013, 03:36 PM

Ok, just called FWC. They are going to come on here and post about the state of bluegill in the ST. johns river. He said he will post actual data sometime tomorrow.

**strmwalker** · 07-23-2013, 04:07 PM

Originally Posted by tnpondmanager

I already mentioned, more than once, that I've seen it happen multiple times to public lakes in southern middle Tennessee, which is not "up north." Furthermore, I traveled to the panhandle of Florida just a month ago to fish for hand-painted bluegill on the Dead Lakes. In two days of hard fishing, I caught seven; and no one else was catching any. If I've ever fished a body of water that had been overfished, it was that one.

Here's an article from a month ago in the Florida Sportsman in which the author quotes a Florida fly-fishing guide as saying that the fishing for big bluegill is not what it once was in Florida:

Bluegill Fishing on the Fly - Florida Sportsman

Here's a recent article about Lake Okeechobee rebounding, in which a state biologist is talking about how well the bluegill and redear are doing - then she cites as example the fact that the bluegill are averaging seven to eight inches and some of the redear are even nine. This from a lake that twenty years ago, according to one guide's website, was producing stringers of two-pound bluegill.

Anglers, biologists agree

For a biologist to be excited about a nine-inch redear or an eight-inch bluegill on Okeechobee, tells you how far that fishery has fallen just in the recent past. It's the seventh-largest freshwater lake in the U.S.; if it can happen to that lake, it can happen to any lake. And, as I already mentioned in a previous post, multiple large lakes in southern California that as recently as two years ago were some of the best public waters in the world for trophy bluegill, are being fished out as we speak. But by all means, keep yanking out all of the big ones you catch. Don't think about other anglers - they don't matter. There aren't many top-notch public bluegill fisheries left in this country, so since you obviously live near one, make sure it goes the same route the others have.

some of your DATA about Florida don't add up all the way , lets also take a look at;
Changes in water level and differences in plant community structural complexity and water quality within vegetation communities exert the greatest effect on fish distribution in the littoral zone of Lake Okeechobee. Historically, bulrush has yielded the highest average numbers for total fish and game fish in block net sampling conducted on Lake Okeechobee. Importance of bulrush as habitat for adult game fishes has long been recognized by fisheries biologists, and bulrush is frequently planted during lake restoration and habitat enhancement projects.

Submersed vegetation types provide important habitat for forage fish, such as minnows shiners, and small bream. A positive relationship between hydrilla and production of juvenile game fish and forage fish has been documented by fisheries biologists. Dominant fish species abundance estimates for hydrilla, eelgrass, and Illinois pondweed (peppergrass) were similar, which indicates equivalent habitat value for these vegetation types.
The hurricanes on Lake Okeechobee during 2004 (particularly Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne) caused brief high water level surges to over 18 feet and, together with high winds, had a devastating effect on many plant communities. From the constant beating of high wind and waves, thousands of acres of plants such as bulrush, peppergrass, eelgrass and hydrilla were uprooted or broken off. Plants near the bottom or in protected areas were subjected to die-off from little or no sunlight reaching them as a result of highly turbid water over a long period of time.

The drought starting in 2006 that struck much of the state of Florida, lowered the lake level to an all-time record of 8.82 ft. msl (July 2007). Periods of drought have occurred on Lake Okeechobee about every ten years. The drought actually helped by allowing most of the emergent vegetation that was lost to be replaced by new plants. After Tropical Storm Fay (August 2008), when water levels rose quickly (luckily not too fast to damage new vegetation), thousands of acres of new bulrush, spikerush and other desirable emergent plants covered old established areas as well as many new areas where vegetation had not been in recent memory. Submerged vegetation such as peppergrass, eelgrass and hydrilla also returned. With the return of vegetation, many aquatic insect populations also increased, providing a food source for bait fish (such as minnows and shad). With this renewed food source and resurgence in vegetative habitat, many fish have had large spawns since Tropical Storm Fay, causing fisherman to see an increase of many game species. Future years should continue to see an increase in size and numbers of fish populations provided the habitat and food base also continues to improve.

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