Thread: Friendly discussion about Bream Limits

Originally Posted by INTIMIDATOR

The baits that I use, have little "2 inch" swimmers that are just perfect for Bream...the Japanese make a lot of Panfish lures, but most fishermen don't want to take the time and learn new techniques, when "Live Bait catches just as many fish"!

I don't doubt they are, but I'd say almost any 1-2" bait is perfect for bream, and there's nothing complicated about fishing them.

I spend a lot of time fishing with artificials for bream (jigs and flies.) I've been doing it for forty years and am pretty good at it. However ... if I cloned myself, the "live bait deathb4disco" would outfish the "artificial deathb4disco" by at least 5 to 1.

Originally Posted by INTIMIDATOR

I can come at this from different angles than most others! IMHO, Bluegill/Bream fishermen have waaaay to many obstacles to overcome!
My background comes from Bass and Walleye fishing first, then Crappie later....

Bass Fishermen view Bream as FORAGE ONLY! The Big Bull Bluegill to them, serve no purpose other than something to remove! Most Believe that Big Bull Bream can upset and harm the forage balance in lakes/ponds that are growing Big Bass.
You also have Bass Fishermen, Catfishermen, and Muskie/Pike fishermen, that catch and use any size bream possible for bait!

Like it or not, Bass Fishermen are the real drivers of the fishing industry...First you have to understand the Money that is behind the Bass Industry, compared to the Panfish industry...Billions and Billions of dollars....and in ALOT of ways this is the fault of Panfish-fishermen!
Everyone wants Pan-fishing to grow, but it remains a small market because of the stubborn continual use of live-bait and techniques not conducive to ALOT of Big sponsors like Bass Fishing is! BIG Money equals regulation and Management! If you want Companies to invest, you have to use their products and win or set records...Live Bait companies and sit down techniques are not Billion Dollar Sponsors! Without Money, you get no regulations or management!

Then You have to overcome the fact that Bream are just so easy to catch all year long, especially in Ohio....unlike Crappie, smaller Bream tend to stay close to shore, don't mind high temps, and can be caught year round, by even shore fishermen, which increases pressure even more than other fish.
To be honest, I cannot force myself to eat a dark meat fish...just cannot stand them...But I watch people around my home lake keeping buckets upon buckets of 4 inch fish...Heck, I have bigger fish in my aquarium than what they keep on a DAILY basis. People catch them to grind up for dog food, etc, Ethnic groups fry the entire small fish to eat, and since Bream are considered a high reproductive forage, there are no limits whatsoever in Ohio.

As someone said earlier, those who think even a Huge lake can't be fished out, are mis-informed. Fishing Pressure increases every year as populations increase, people are needing more and more food, or supplemental food to save money...and Bream can be caught year round! Add Enviromental or Natural weather extremes and the population can be destroyed!
At my home lake (2500 acres), my son caught a 10.5 inch bluegill 3 years ago on a 3 inch swimbait....TO THIS DAY, IT IS THE BIGGEST AND ONLY FISH THAT SIZE, THAT I HAVE SEEN OR HEARD OF, COME OUT OF THAT LAKE....SINCE 1974!

With the vast majority of Panfishermen set in their ways and not receptive to change, I don't see any Bream regulations or management of any kind, coming to Ohio in my lifetime!

a lot of truth in what you say.i have now former friends that are so obsessed with bass tournaments that they are not even real fisherman anymore.money and pics on the internet are all they care about.invited one guy to go catfishing with us.he said he could never fish for catfish.these clowns fish public waters.take over the ramps.fish on top of people trying to relax with their friends and family.i pay the same for a fishing license as they do.these are contests for money and should be regulated and taxed.not to mention they keep in their posession over the limit and undersized fish for some bodies of water.yeah they release them at the ramp but if a cpo caught me with the same in my boat i would be in deep you know what.where i live we have limited resources and lots of people.i stay on the electric only and shore fishing only waters most of the time these days.it is all about the money.the funny part is a lot of these guys are not very good fisherman.take way their iphones sidescans gps maps and their "honey holes" they stole from others and they would be lost.no real instinct or wisdom
'

Originally Posted by deathb4disco

I don't doubt they are, but I'd say almost any 1-2" bait is perfect for bream, and there's nothing complicated about fishing them.

I spend a lot of time fishing with artificials for bream (jigs and flies.) I've been doing it for forty years and am pretty good at it. However ... if I cloned myself, the "live bait deathb4disco" would outfish the "artificial deathb4disco" by at least 5 to 1.

will agree but a jig or fly tipped with bait and fished wellbait is great but yo will out fish both.there are days when they are feeding on top when i can outfish bait with a fly by 5 to 1.

when we hammer a small pond and take out bunches of sunfish .....the average sunfish the next year are larger ....
so maybe its about over population and not over harvest ? just a thought

Ketchn, that's what biologists used to believe prior to the last fifteen years of research. It's covered in detail in the articles I linked to. The old school of thinking was that small bluegill were always a result of overpopulation; now we know that more often than not, on public waters that get a lot of fishing pressure (as opposed to small ponds that typically do not), overharvest is the problem.

If you fish a pond without bass and catch only small brdea. Add 10 bass per acre and by n ext year you will be amazed at the improvements in the Bream quq!ity!!

This is whats' happening in my neck of the woods (or water as it were) check out the bluegill survey.

Lake Profile -- KINKAID LAKE

This is what's happening on all the bodies of water within a 150 mile radius of me,just with different levels of severity. The Bluegill here are exhibiting a lot of parasites and sores on the body and a fin ich. There is something enviromental happening along with the pressure. The fishing pressure has actually dropped because the fish just aren't what they use to be and people are losing some interest.


I will catch a lot of bluegill this year if I get to fish. Some will be big. I will keep some within the law,and I will eat some.

That does not change anything about the major changes that have happened to the fishery. Even if I am catching fish, a lot of fish,that does not preclude me from not observing a broader problem. My memory also is not completely gone....and the fishing for bluegill as it was even back 10 years ago much less forty years ago is not what it was....not even close.

Originally Posted by doggone

This is whats' happening in my neck of the woods (or water as it were) check out the bluegill survey.

Lake Profile -- KINKAID LAKE

This is what's happening on all the bodies of water within a 150 mile radius of me,just with different levels of severity. The Bluegill here are exhibiting a lot of parasites and sores on the body and a fin ich. There is something enviromental happening along with the pressure. The fishing pressure has actually dropped because the fish just aren't what they use to be and people are losing some interest.


I will catch a lot of bluegill this year if I get to fish. Some will be big. I will keep some within the law,and I will eat some.

That does not change anything about the major changes that have happened to the fishery. Even if I am catching fish, a lot of fish,that does not preclude me from not observing a broader problem. My memory also is not completely gone....and the fishing for bluegill as it was even back 10 years ago much less forty years ago is not what it was....not even close.

Sorry to hear that. Is it coming from industrial pollution?

Regards