11" Bluegill Pursuit??

[taxi1]

IN. has plenty of 11" gills don't be fooled.  most gill fishermen still fish shallow in Indiana though.  the ones that do fish deep find those 10-11" fish fairly regular.  a lot more lakes hold 10"+ fish, from what I have found, than people think. i could name at least a dozen lakes that produce monsters in northern IN.  personally I would rather have a sack of 7-9"ers for the plate.  those monsters knocking at deaths door tend to be mealy. imo

imo, bed raping idiots do the most damage to the monsters in IN.

this isn't an "Indiana topic" though. different areas of the country have drastically different fisheries.  an 11" gill mite be unheard of in some places, for whatever reasons. they live where you find them.

Yes bed raping does damage, but if there is no limit what do we do? Many of us have been pushing for a limit for years but every time it comes up in a rules change proposal the INDNR seems to ignore it.

True about bigger gills elsewhere, but as you know not only does a Florida bluegill have a longer growing season, they have a subspecies know as "Coppernose" bluegills. They get larger than our northern strain.They've been introduced to other southern states although they are native to Peninsular Florida.  Can't survive farther north. Cold water is lethal to them.

[taxi1]

This one came from a small lake in Mid-Michigan.  It was caught in 10 fow.  It was taken two years ago and is my personal best, to date.  It is laying on the bottom of a five gallon bucket! 

Nice!

[Ice Scratcher]

A lot of those bigger gills have been caught and let go earlier when they were smaller. They are much smarter now. I've found 1lb test and the tiniest jigs are sometimes the only way they'll even look at it, let alone take a really quick taste. It really helps to sight fish these types of monsters. They do this really quick inhale exhale on the jig, only once, if you aren't watching you'll never get em.

[taxi1]

A lot of those bigger gills have been caught and let go earlier when they were smaller. They are much smarter now. I've found 1lb test and the tiniest jigs are sometimes the only way they'll even look at it, let alone take a really quick taste. It really helps to sight fish these types of monsters. They do this really quick inhale exhale on the jig, only once, if you aren't watching you'll never get em.

I agree! I used to watch those devils in an ice shanty on the Round Lake that connects to Clear Lake east of Fremont. Spooky as hell!

It's also getting harder to catch the bigger ones in my pond that have been released because they were undersize when they were younger.

[marmooskapaul]

If it's anything like Massachusetts most anglers there would rather catch a 10 inch stocked trout, so there isn't the pressure on them there is in other states.

I’d rather catch that bluegill than a ten pound bass!

Here's a close to 3 pound Mass bluegill. Not a hybrid.

(Image removed from quote.)

[crappeye]

Almost

[Iceassin]

Long story...but true.

Fishing a Bass tournament on a private "pond" ( it was fed by a long creek from a public lake). About 40 acres with a max. of 2' deep and heavy weeds. First year of tourney noticed some nice gills in it but left them alone. 2nd year, partner and I decided to catch a few. Took the 2 largest home. Had a "buddy" who knew someone that would mount them for me. Well, somewhere along the way they became "lost". I wasn't happy to say the least...and he is no longer my buddy. This was over 10 years ago and can't find pics.  Anyway, bottom line:

11.0" @ 1.33#
11.25" @ 1.0#
Both were 6" wide and 2" thick and very dark. Big knot on top of the noses. Absolute beasts! Still sick about it. 🤬

Here's a video of one being caught...

https://vault.myvzw.com/webcs/app/share/invite/itumdkwTv1

[NEZ]

Wow, those are some nice gills.  I was just thinking that a few years ago I wanted a 10 incher in PA and I did get it 2 years ago being 10.5inches.  I did have it mounted with a really nice perch.  New goal...11 inch gill thru the ice...Nez

[fishlessyooper]

I want to thank all of you for the suggestions/ideas for chasing fish of this size.  Mother nature is shutting down accesses to the lakes that I'd like to fish.  The snowfall here started in November & seems to come in large amounts each time & it's accompanied with 20-30 mph winds. Least I throw in a couple of ice storms also.  Today we received another 12"-24" of snow with wind.  Jeff

[choo choo]

Jigged up this 10 incher last year, Oneida Lake NY.
deep spot in a shallow flat.

[filetandrelease]

 Really nice fish guys 👍

[river_scum]

some nice pics all!

the one in the video is a real chunky oinker.  must have some real high quality critters to feed on in that grassy bay!  maybe full of wrigglers?


 

[captain54]

60 years of gill fishing though the ice.......over 20,000 maybe 20 some fish over 10"....never an 11"
I agree with Paul....I've fish many new manmade lakes in Pennsylvania and the first generation gills are very respectable fish.....many 9"-9.5" fish once they start breeding the party is over...I fish a water reservoir that has a tremendous population of zooplankton and gills grow big and faster than most lakes...here in Pennsylvania it probably take 7-10 years for a gill to get to trophy class.

[Spider1]

Usually when I get home from a day of fishing I will toss the fish in a bag and put them in the freezer and thaw them the day after and process them. Last week I fished 2 days in a row and gills were on the menu and I ended up with 22, several were real slammers... what I considered monster gills! Not one was over 9". But then again, that lake gets hammered pretty well all year so it isn't going to be much of a trophy fishing lake but good fish are there and plentiful. Got my biggest perch in there, 15". My PB crappie, 15.5". Even got my biggest gill at 9.5". I guess it all depends on where you get to go fishing.

[hnd]

11" long is one thing, but how about 11" girth! 

this one was 10.5" and 10.75" around.     not 11 but a 10x10 gill is as impressive as an 11" gill imo. definitely a farm pond fish and even perhaps a hybrid but definitely impressive. 

[GBguy]

[marknpanfish]

Love that picture. Now I have to go for a 12-inch bluegill.

[Iceassin]

11" long is one thing, but how about 11" girth! 

this one was 10.5" and 10.75" around.     not 11 but a 10x10 gill is as impressive as an 11" gill imo. definitely a farm pond fish and even perhaps a hybrid but definitely impressive. 

(Image removed from quote.)

Close enough 👍😁👍

[Alternative Reefer]

Where I grew up as a kid there was a small lake no one fished but us kids(smalltown so that was about 4-6 of us).  We were told it was polluted so no one kept fish from it.   We would catch these huge and I mean huge gills.  11" was nothing.  We would cut them in half and put them on shark hooks to catch snapping turtles.   I caught a 9 3/4" gill on the mississippi river this year and it sent flashbacks to when I was a kid.   If I could go back in time that is one moment where I would go and kick myself in the bottom and slap myself up the side of the head.  Shortly after that someone through a half dozen northern pike into it.  By the time I hit young adulthood those pike multiplied exponentially.  You would catch 30 or 40 pike ice fishing in a day with four guys.   But you couldn't catch a bluegill to save your life.  Now I wanna kill every pike I see.  Dont get me started on largemouth bass.   

[hnd]

when i went to college in VA i worked for a landscaping company.   we were doing a big project at a house that kind of was out int he middle of nowhere.  I would go for walks during lunch and happened upon a pond.  It was like this small 1 acre pond hidden away in the forest.  there was a small dock and no building or anything around.   I saw the spawn beds and the next day came back and caught probably 30-40 blue gills.  each one 9 to 11" they were huge across the back and ferociously attacked the beetle spin i was chucking.  I put about 20 of them in a bucket and we ate them (i was young and stupid) and then came back the next day and did it again.  We had a grand fish fry with friends at the dorm.   

The next week when the homeowners of the house we were working on came back from vacation.  I asked them about that treasure pond that I had seen.  The guy goes, oh yeah, thats the neighbors pond down the road.  All the fish in there are his PETS and he hand feeds them everyday.   

oops. needless to say i never spoke of it again.  Luckily the week prior i had been the only one working at the site so basically only i knew (and the people in the dorm)

[taxi1]

11" long is one thing, but how about 11" girth! 

this one was 10.5" and 10.75" around.     not 11 but a 10x10 gill is as impressive as an 11" gill imo. definitely a farm pond fish and even perhaps a hybrid but definitely impressive. 

(Image removed from quote.)

Very nice fish and I can assure you that is NOT a hybrid.

[walleyeboater]

Nice gill!

[Ice_Fly_Guy]

when i went to college in VA i worked for a landscaping company.   we were doing a big project at a house that kind of was out int he middle of nowhere.  I would go for walks during lunch and happened upon a pond.  It was like this small 1 acre pond hidden away in the forest.  there was a small dock and no building or anything around.   I saw the spawn beds and the next day came back and caught probably 30-40 blue gills.  each one 9 to 11" they were huge across the back and ferociously attacked the beetle spin i was chucking.  I put about 20 of them in a bucket and we ate them (i was young and stupid) and then came back the next day and did it again.  We had a grand fish fry with friends at the dorm.   

The next week when the homeowners of the house we were working on came back from vacation.  I asked them about that treasure pond that I had seen.  The guy goes, oh yeah, thats the neighbors pond down the road.  All the fish in there are his PETS and he hand feeds them everyday.   

oops. needless to say i never spoke of it again.  Luckily the week prior i had been the only one working at the site so basically only i knew (and the people in the dorm)

This is hilarious!

[taxi1]

I had a guy contact me once to get a monetary value of bluegills that were poached out of his pond. He was going to court and asking for damages. I guess someone  came in without permission and took every last large bluegill out of his tiny pond. He was royally pissed.

Apparently not the same as above.