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Ice Fishing Tips -Check your local regulations! => Bluegill => Topic started by: kb on Dec 30, 2009, 06:52 PM

Title: Whats a keeper?
Post by: kb on Dec 30, 2009, 06:52 PM
What is a keeper Bluegill for you?

Thanks,

kb
Title: Re: Whats a keeper?
Post by: DEADONDYLAN on Dec 30, 2009, 06:53 PM
8"+
Title: Re: Whats a keeper?
Post by: marcus on Dec 30, 2009, 06:57 PM
depends on the body of water and how in the mood I am in for a fry. The lake I frequent most often has a decent average size of about 7 1/2" so I am a bit picky there, but other water bodies where there are millions of 6"er's I will take them also. If i can get a fillet off of them chances are it is a keeper. There is a small pond near me that I catch whopper gills in but it is small so I am very selective there I even throw back some of the real big ones 10"+ not sure if it makes sense but it seems to me there have got tot be some good genes for those fish to get that big, also it is only a 30 acre pond and the fish seem hungry.
Title: Re: Whats a keeper?
Post by: slipperybob on Dec 31, 2009, 07:54 PM
It's 8" for me.  I've never caught anything over 9".  Bluegill isn't my specialty, but when I run into a good school, I don't hesitate trying to catch them.
Title: Re: Whats a keeper?
Post by: icehousepsycho on Jan 01, 2010, 09:31 AM
I set an 8" limit.  I kept some 7" one time and they were a pain to fillet.  I really like them over 9", those are the best.
Title: Re: Whats a keeper?
Post by: BucksNDucks on Jan 01, 2010, 06:20 PM
8" seeems like its a standard for most haha
Title: Re: Whats a keeper?
Post by: marcus on Jan 01, 2010, 09:32 PM
me and my buddy just cut about 60   and my 8 yr old kept a tally of sizes worked out to a little over 7.5" each and aside from a couple they were nice to fillet
Title: Re: Whats a keeper?
Post by: KgBnY315 on Jan 01, 2010, 09:34 PM
8 in and over. anything smaller goes back in the lake
Title: Re: Whats a keeper?
Post by: bluegillhunter3694 on Jan 01, 2010, 10:30 PM
7" and up. The smaller ones are perfect for my little sister.
Title: Re: Whats a keeper?
Post by: bobbyfish64 on Jan 04, 2010, 12:38 PM
Quote
I even throw back some of the real big ones 10"+
Good Man!! Way to pass it on brother!!
Title: Re: Whats a keeper?
Post by: Van_Cleaver on Jan 04, 2010, 02:31 PM
I usually look for 8'', but as mentioned above your limit has to be in relation to the water you are fishing. I also like to release some of the biggest fish for the future. Let go a 10'' the other day cause I already had the two meals I wanted. If you keep letting big ones go, you can bet there will be some bigger ones next year.
Title: Re: Whats a keeper?
Post by: vexaholic on Jan 06, 2010, 02:57 PM
8 to 9 inchers and I agree with putting those over 9 back in the lake.
Title: Re: Whats a keeper?
Post by: Cedar2RTO on Dec 29, 2010, 09:21 AM
Kept 2 about the size of my hand last night. I actually got more meat off of them than I thought I would. Anything smaller I through back.
I've never kept them before so I think I'll go with the hand rule in the future.

What are the benefits of keeping larger than 7" but less than 10"? ???
Title: Re: Whats a keeper?
Post by: Michaelo on Dec 29, 2010, 11:16 AM
Well when I pull them out of the hole and grab them if I can touch my thumb and middle finger together they go back If I can't touch I keep them depending on how I'm doing that day. But one thing that makes me mad is people who keep 5 inchers walked past a guy yesterday that had about 20 of them laying by him.
Title: Re: Whats a keeper?
Post by: kb on Dec 29, 2010, 01:09 PM
Kept 2 about the size of my hand last night. I actually got more meat off of them than I thought I would. Anything smaller I through back.
I've never kept them before so I think I'll go with the hand rule in the future.

What are the benefits of keeping larger than 7" but less than 10"? ???

Breeding stock
Title: Re: Whats a keeper?
Post by: Swift on Dec 29, 2010, 03:06 PM
Depends, have a couple lakes where a 6.5"-7" have as much meat as some 8"+ on others.
Title: Re: Whats a keeper?
Post by: marcus on Dec 30, 2010, 05:04 PM
Kept 2 about the size of my hand last night. I actually got more meat off of them than I thought I would. Anything smaller I through back.
I've never kept them before so I think I'll go with the hand rule in the future.

What are the benefits of keeping larger than 7" but less than 10"? ???
In my situation this is a very small body of water, like I said not sure if it makes sense or not, but those 10" are freaks and probably carry good genes. Also if a few of those big'guns I released bites this year think of how big they will be.
Title: Re: Whats a keeper?
Post by: Rebelfisher on Dec 30, 2010, 07:26 PM
depends on lake but usually 7"+
Title: Re: Whats a keeper?
Post by: ICE REBEL on Dec 30, 2010, 07:30 PM
If it fits on a bun. :roflmao:
Title: Re: Whats a keeper?
Post by: graybeard1 on Dec 30, 2010, 10:06 PM
I like 7" on up, but if I'm fishing a place that's loaded with smaller ones, I take smaller. Depends a lot on the water. I fish a tiny pond sometimes, that has some nice gills in the 10" range, but I put most back there. Bigger lakes that are full of smaller ones, I'll take 'em home.
Title: Re: Whats a keeper?
Post by: SDFlagChaser on Dec 31, 2010, 12:20 PM
But one thing that makes me mad is people who keep 5 inchers walked past a guy yesterday that had about 20 of them laying by him.

If it's legal and they want to clean then, more power to them.  There are some lakes that need more people to keep the smaller ones, leaves the bigger ones for you and I.  With that being said, i've never kept a bluegill to bring home to eat.  I've only caught a couple over about 8 inches, so it's just not worth it to me.  They are fun to catch though.
Title: Re: Whats a keeper?
Post by: Van_Cleaver on Dec 31, 2010, 02:29 PM
My local lake is loaded with big gills over 8'' (my keepers). Yet sometimes you can't catch any over eight. We laugh cause certain ethnic persuasions kill every size fish they catch in the spring when the crappie may or may not be spawning. Yet every year when there is late ice and even after ice out there are tons of quality fish. A couple days ago I went through about a hundred fish to get one eight in. gill. Yet I know the bulls are in here still and in time I will get on them. I just hope we still have ice when I do!
Title: Re: Whats a keeper?
Post by: walkerd on Jan 01, 2011, 07:04 AM
It would be nice if everyone throws back 10 inchers and over live to make more bigger fish. But if I were to guess maybe 1 in 10000 would or do it. I ussually keep 7 inch on up and since I dont catch alot of ten inch gills I dont have to worry about that one. ;D. Ive kept smaller and cleaned them when they inhale my bait.
Title: Re: Whats a keeper?
Post by: Holden Turbitt on Jan 01, 2011, 07:06 AM
8"
Title: Re: Whats a keeper?
Post by: ICE REBEL on Jan 01, 2011, 08:01 AM
7" would do for me. I may keep a few that are 6" also.
Title: Re: Whats a keeper?
Post by: captain54 on Jan 02, 2011, 05:23 PM
Over 8 inches,when I really on them 8 1/2 inches up,I bless to fish a really good gill lake.
Title: Re: Whats a keeper?
Post by: StabinCabin on Jan 02, 2011, 06:47 PM
10 plus we have alot or pike in our lake so the gill are very good size.
Title: Re: Whats a keeper?
Post by: Iceman421 on Jan 04, 2011, 02:29 PM
Ideally 8-9" are perfect for fileting/eating but after throwing 1,000 dinks, 6" usually find their way in my bucket ;D
Title: Re: Whats a keeper?
Post by: Kevin23 on Jan 04, 2011, 03:09 PM
7.5"
Title: Re: Whats a keeper?
Post by: scrounger on Jan 08, 2011, 03:22 PM
Breeding stock

why? 3" gills can breed
Title: Re: Whats a keeper?
Post by: ryno on Jan 08, 2011, 04:52 PM
i prefer 8"+ for filleting.  With that said one needs to take into consideration the size of lake you are on...smaller ponds/lakes that i fish i stick to a 10 fish limit and am selective on how many if any over 9" i keep.  just the other day i threw back the larger ones over 9 and made my buddy follow my same conservation practice...only keep 10 and any over 10" (sometimes even over 9") has to go back. the only exception is if you are going to mount it.  bull gills take a long time to get that size and also incourages competion when nesting, the more bulls there are the faster the lil'guys will get to be bulls.  the larger bulls are also better at defending their nests from preditor fish thus allowing better survival of the fry.  our state regs just changed this year to only 15 panfish/day...i wish it was 10 with only 1 MA. i have seen to many of our lakes get hammered and the quantity and quality of the bull gills decreases and takes years for them to recover.  needless to say when i find the bulls i am very selective for who i share it with cause with the internet and cell phones the next day there will be dozenes of people fishing there and most keeping only the bulls and trying to fill their limit with them as well.  i honestly dont see the need to keep more than one MA.  It does give ya a good felling when ya watch that 10+ bull swim off.
Title: Re: Whats a keeper?
Post by: SoftSpot_716 on Jan 10, 2011, 10:32 PM
really depends on the body of water and each individual fish. Yesterday we were fishing and we were keeping 7 and 8s but the 7s we were keeping were really thick shouldered and tall bodied get nice fillets out of them.
Title: Re: Whats a keeper?
Post by: amcmullen on Jan 12, 2011, 11:46 PM
why? 3" gills can breed

Good point. 
 I believe (and it is my belief, whether or not it is true is up to debate) it has more to do with the fact that larger fish have three main advantages. First they are better able to defend their eggs from predators.  Second, larger fish are older fish, older fish are the few that survived.  The fish that couldn't find enough food or weren't wary enough were picked off long ago.  Third, the amount of eggs a fish produces is proportional to it's size, bigger fish more eggs. 

To add it all up More eggs + more survivors + smart offspring = those 10"ers you let go to reproduce, synergy in nature.

Again, just my belief, I really don't mind when people keep small fish or large fish.  As long as they enjoy their catch and meal.  Gills are very prolific breeders, you'll never catch them all, not even close.

Title: Re: Whats a keeper?
Post by: Jigging Nomad on Jan 13, 2011, 06:51 PM
Most days everything is released.  All gills over 9" are released, no matter what.  I want to catch 10" plus gills and think catch and release on the big ones helps. 
Title: Re: Whats a keeper?
Post by: yesjacker on Jan 13, 2011, 08:17 PM
8''   I find smaller gets me aggravated when filleting.
Title: Re: Whats a keeper?
Post by: Rat-Man on Jan 14, 2011, 07:25 PM
8"+ for me but if you want to keep them smaller go ahead, most States don't have a size limit, my father in law used to keep all the small ones and he loved to eat them and I helped. Pan fish are very prolific so i doubt if you could hurt the population by keeping small ones.
Title: Re: Whats a keeper?
Post by: jugghead on Jan 16, 2011, 09:23 AM
Let me say it like this 7'' or bigger , would be happy if they were all 7'' , but when you fish all day and are being selective and you have 9 fish that are 7'' plus then I will keep a few 6's , just to make a meal , 12-15 fish is usually enough for us , but 6's are the absolute minimum size we'll keep , I use a 6'' auger so if they don't stretch past the hole they go back , thats my measuring stick lol.PEACE
Title: Re: Whats a keeper?
Post by: jasond37 on Jan 16, 2011, 09:40 AM
Around 7"-8" for me.  I love to catch the larger guys but I throw them back, as with any other species of fish I catch.  I also don't believe in catching my limit, just because I can.  I'll keep a few for my wife and I to eat and that's it.
Title: Re: Whats a keeper?
Post by: Blitz on Jan 16, 2011, 09:55 AM
6-8" depending on how I plan to eat them; fillet, whole, ect. Toss the larger fish back to make more large fish.
Title: Re: Whats a keeper?
Post by: fin-n-feather on Jan 18, 2011, 11:37 PM
The standard for me I would have to say is 8".  Sometimes I'll go maybe a 1/4" shorter if the fish is nice and thick.  Fin
Title: Re: Whats a keeper?
Post by: icefishman on Jan 22, 2011, 02:07 PM
The size of my hand!
Title: Re: Whats a keeper?
Post by: slabgill on Jan 22, 2011, 05:50 PM
8 inches!!!....sometimes 7.5....thats the smallest!!!! :tipup:
Title: Re: Whats a keeper?
Post by: Hooligan on Jan 25, 2011, 06:37 PM
I only keep fish from 7-9 inches.  Usually trying to keep only 8"-8.5" fish.  I refuse to keep anything over 9" because with gills that's where prime genetics lie. 
Title: Re: Whats a keeper?
Post by: ufflmaster on Jan 16, 2018, 02:48 PM
old topic but I will chime in. I keep them from about 8"- 8 3/4'. Under 8" is a pain to clean and 9"+ should be released unless your lake has a large amount of them. Releasing the larger gills and "keeping the next size class down" helps in 2 ways. First the big bulls are good for the gene pool. Secondly, fish grow much faster before reaching sexual maturity. These big bulls keep the 7" fish growing rapidly to try to compete for spawning grounds. Of course if your "big" gills are 10" then keeping some 9" fish isn't that big a deal.
Title: Re: Whats a keeper?
Post by: rivereddy on Jan 19, 2018, 12:59 PM
I'd guess where one lives might have some influence.  In Indiana, where I live I want bluegills  larger than 7 inches and anything 9 or over goes back in the hole.  I really don't want blocks of frozen fish in the freezer so I only keep 5 each time I am out.  I usually pinch the barbs down and try to pop them as soon as they commit.  The only exception is on a couple of private holdings where I have permission to fish and the owner wants the bluegill population cropped. I will then keep more and smaller fish.  I hate throwing them on the ice so we have, on occasion, eaten "see through" fillets.  For crappies I go 8" to about 11.  Anything bigger goes back. Mind you this is for Indiana. Hit a run of 14" crappies in Alabama or on Ky Lake and a few will come home with us.

fish on,

rivereddy
Title: Re: Whats a keeper?
Post by: icemann13 on Jan 19, 2018, 09:17 PM
I fish for the sport. I make enough money to buy food at the grocery store.

I have been lucky enough to find a nice gill spot that produces a fair amount of 9" plus fish during a days worth of jigging. Those have been going home with my son to enjoy during the week. The spot is on the Mississippi and seems abundant. Other smaller lakes I fish do not have the population nor the size for me to keep any. All depends on where you are in life and where you are on the water as to what fish you might keep or not.

Title: Re: Whats a keeper?
Post by: Agronomist_at_IA on Jan 19, 2018, 09:25 PM
8in + anything smaller then Richard goes back.
Title: Re: Whats a keeper?
Post by: RyanW on Jan 19, 2018, 10:37 PM
I usually go by girth rather than length but I keep gills  between 7”-9”. Some smaller ones have nice shoulders on them. However, there all keeping size if you feel like cleaning them. Larger panfish fillet better though.
Title: Re: Whats a keeper?
Post by: panfishman13 on Jan 20, 2018, 10:27 PM
it honestly depends on the body of water i'm fishing. most places a keeper bluegill is 7 1/2 to 8 1/2 inches, some places i don't keep fish over 8 inches. i will not keep a fish over 9 inches. they take too long to get that big around here, and i want those genetics in the system for years to come. there's enough other people keeping more than their fair share of big bluegills (there's no limit on bluegills in Idaho), i don't need to add to all that

i also never keep more than 10 at a time anymore. i don't like standing at the cleaning table for 2 hours or more, and i can get 10 fish filleted and packaged in under an hour. plus, 10 fish make 20 fillets, which is more than enough to make a meal for me and my roommate.
Title: Re: Whats a keeper?
Post by: jiignut on Jan 24, 2018, 10:25 PM
What grocery store sells same day fresh Bluegills?
Title: Re: Whats a keeper?
Post by: UFCreel on Jan 29, 2018, 07:29 AM
7 to 9 inch and mostly female. Seems there is more meat on them than the males.
Title: Re: Whats a keeper?
Post by: Ice_Fly_Guy on Sep 24, 2018, 05:51 AM
7.5" to 8.5".  It is absolutely imperative to the health of the fishery to throw back 9"+ fish.  Especially for smaller, pressured bodies of water.  These kind of places can get ruined in one or two seasons when people keep limits of big males.  Gotta keep those big gills in the lake for healthy genetics.
Title: Re: Whats a keeper?
Post by: Seamonkey84 on Sep 24, 2018, 09:26 AM
7.5" to 8.5".  It is absolutely imperative to the health of the fishery to throw back 9"+ fish.  Especially for smaller, pressured bodies of water.  These kind of places can get ruined in one or two seasons when people keep limits of big males.  Gotta keep those big gills in the lake for healthy genetics.
Absolutely! With sunfish in general, It’s the big males that keep the population healthy and passing on good genetics. Although bluegills are an invasive species in my state, I still enjoy catching them. We mostly have pumpkin seeds here, they are absolutely beautiful fish. Though they don’t get as big as bluegills on average, so everything over 8” will be released for sure.
Title: Re: Whats a keeper?
Post by: HardIce32 on Nov 26, 2018, 10:57 PM
7.5-9 depending on the lake.   There are some thick 7.5 gills out there on certain bodies of water.
Title: Re: Whats a keeper?
Post by: Iceassin on Nov 27, 2018, 03:42 AM
7.5-9 depending on the lake.   There are some thick 7.5 gills out there on certain bodies of water.

X2

Most of the lakes I fish are moderate to high pressure and low in predator fish so the 6-7" come home...I like my freezer full.
A couple of private/low pressure lakes with a fair amount of predators I frequent, the gills tend to run big...8"+

So nothing under 6"... and there is no "too big".
Title: Re: Whats a keeper?
Post by: fishinator on Nov 27, 2018, 05:47 AM
8in + anything smaller then Richard goes back.
If i did that I would never keep a gill  ;D
Title: Re: Whats a keeper?
Post by: Iceassin on Nov 27, 2018, 06:40 AM
If i did that I would never keep a gill  ;D

 :roflmao: :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Whats a keeper?
Post by: Bo Beaver on Dec 16, 2018, 10:18 AM
I grew up cleaning 6"+ gills. They're not that bad.
Title: Re: Whats a keeper?
Post by: 3300 on Dec 16, 2018, 12:25 PM
any thing you want to clean is a keeper.
Title: Re: Whats a keeper?
Post by: clintonstick on Dec 16, 2018, 12:54 PM
i keep a meal or 2 ,My wife scales bluegills fries them whole serves on rice with sweet and sour sauce.MMM i need some gills,i think they are the finest eating fish.
Title: Re: Whats a keeper?
Post by: spoofhoundicefisher on Dec 16, 2018, 05:41 PM
fish mainly ponds and for the health of the ponds no gills go back into the ponds.  love to have fish fry's also so clean as many as we can catch and many hands make quick work of lots of gills.  you get good at cleaning with all the little ones.  boys gotta learn some how to work an electric fillet knife.
Title: Re: Whats a keeper?
Post by: Iceassin on Dec 16, 2018, 06:56 PM
Depends on the fishery but most lakes I fish, 7" and above. But there are a couple of lakes that unless they're 9"+...they go back.
Title: Re: Whats a keeper?
Post by: Unclegillhunter on Dec 17, 2018, 11:54 AM
7” to 8” if Inwant a meal. If I want a meal I don’t mind cleaning a limit which here is 15 panfish. If the fish is much over 9” it goes back in for the next time to see if it gotten to 10”.
Keep it safe! JDL
Title: Re: Whats a keeper?
Post by: Ice_Fly_Guy on Dec 25, 2018, 08:36 AM
7-8", anything 9" and over goes back for the health of the fishery.  If they're particularly thick fish, I might keep 6 inchers.
Title: Re: Whats a keeper?
Post by: Stickhick86 on Dec 25, 2018, 08:45 AM
The owner of the pond where I fish for gills told me to stop throwing them back because they are getting over populated so all gills are keepers