Panfish Limits

[wallydiven]

I am sure it would help on some lakes, but many lakes it won't have any effect.  There are to many lakes and not enough resources to do a full study on each individual body of water. 

The Slough place has the 25 fish limit, and the size of fish I see posted are average gills that can be caught on most lakes that do not have a limit - so the limit there hasn't helped create a fishing of big gills.

I'm going to disagree. If there wasn't a limit at the slough people would definitely have to work harder at getting a limit because there would be less fish. I have seen 10"ers from there this year but less than in the past because there are more people out there keeping fish of any size till they get 25. Personally, I'd like to see a 15 fish limit at the slough for about 2 or 3 years to let them toads grow. Everyone has a voice and there has been some great opinions posted thus far but it seems to me we see a post like this started every year.

[Fishking83]

I can name 4 michigan lakes within 15 miles of the border that will blow the doors off the gills you catch in just about any public Indiana lake.  The number of times they spawn is no different in these lakes than any other in Northern Indiana.   You don't always get on the true big ones, but when you do, there is no comparison.  FK83 had over a dozen 'true' bluegills well over 10" this summer and he really did not get out much.  Lots of people claim to catch tons of 9-10 gills in Indiana, but they tend to get smaller when put on a tape.  We caught several over 9" yesterday, but some of the 8.75 probably weighed more as the thickness of the fish was very inconsistent.  Some were thick, others were not.  Odd to see that out of the same BOW and catching them on the same spot on the lake.

Just 4?  I'm all for the limit in Indiana going to 25 fish.  I would like to see them change it sooner than later.  I believe it has a lot to do with the limit on some of the lakes.  I don't think that its because any of the Michigan lakes get fished any less than the Indiana lakes do.  It's not because these Michigan lakes are large bodies of water either.  Bring on the limit!

[angolajones]

Oh my gosh, you guys are acting like bluegills are an endangered species.  If the lake is "fished out" and only offering little fish, then people will quit fishing it and the fish size will increase.  Sorry, but I'm not looking for a trophy.  I'm looking for some cleaners to eat.  If I catch a big one then great, I will brag. 

For those of you who are having trouble catching fish, get better.  A regulation is just that, someone else telling you what you can do.  If the species were about to go extinct, then yes, there should be a regulation.

[ispoman]

Limits did help lake michigan perch rebound. The limit at the slough helps a little the fishing there is better than most places in the state and the fish are generally bigger people who doubt it have never fished it or they cant catch fish. The slough used to put out 10 plus inch gills on a regular day.  Not many people fishing back then. They need to reduce it to 20 at the slough. Too many peeps going everyday and just hoarding fish not just gills. For 95% of anglers limits can benefit. Theres always gonna be the other 5 percent that over harvest. Even if its legal to keep 200 gills doesnt make it right. Its legal to get fall down drunk and act like an idiot to but dont make it right.
Im all for limits cause some people are just pigs who probably end up throwing their fish out the next year dueto the fact they cant eat them fast enough like 50 gallon bags of any fish come on.
I aint driving to michigan for panfish either because i dont live near the boarder. If i lived near i would definetly fish it. Probably use less fuel would offset the cost of license. People drive 100 miles each way to hit slough.

[Fishslayer81]

Oh my gosh, you guys are acting like bluegills are an endangered species.  If the lake is "fished out" and only offering little fish, then people will quit fishing it and the fish size will increase.  Sorry, but I'm not looking for a trophy.  I'm looking for some cleaners to eat.  If I catch a big one then great, I will brag. 

For those of you who are having trouble catching fish, get better.  A regulation is just that, someone else telling you what you can do.  If the species were about to go extinct, then yes, there should be a regulation.

 

[ispoman]

Oh my gosh, you guys are acting like bluegills are an endangered species.  If the lake is "fished out" and only offering little fish, then people will quit fishing it and the fish size will increase.  Sorry, but I'm not looking for a trophy.  I'm looking for some cleaners to eat.  If I catch a big one then great, I will brag. 

For those of you who are having trouble catching fish, get better.  A regulation is just that, someone else telling you what you can do.  If the species were about to go extinct, then yes, there should be a regulation.

i apreciate your opnion. Heres another one. Some people exclusivly target bluegill. To them it is their tophy fish. Its all they fish for. Who wants to eat a green carp anyway. Green carp were put here for sport not eating so we eat gills  , would be nice to consistently catch 9 to 10 inch gills.......imo

[Fishking83]

I haven't seen any taped out toads on the michigsn boards and guys posting their excited about catching 7s and 8s... thanks ill pass I can show you lakes within thirty minutes of the fort that would have no trouble keeping up with the mighty gills of Michigan. I can also show you lakes with dinks and I can go to Michigan and show you lakes with dinks. Prove to me that the panfish limit across the board up in Michigan produces 10" plus gills every trip on any lake you'll make me a believer otherwise I'm not impressed at all with their programs and would call them a complete failure if every lake doesn't produce the 10 inch gills on a consistent basis. Same thing would happen 8 Indiana as Michigan you would have a handful of lakes four lakes is not a success by any means lol

, I'd like to see any state have lakes that can produce 10" gills on every trip on every lake.  How on earth could you call them a complete failure if every lake doesn't produce 10" gills .  I'd like to see some pictures of the fort wayne gills on a tape pushing 10".  I'll post a few pics of Michigan gills from the past year.  Not all are 10" but I would say that if you took calipers to a Michigan gill and to an Indiana gill the thickness of the fishes back you would notice a big difference. 

[wax_worm]

I haven't seen any taped out toads on the michigsn boards and guys posting their excited about catching 7s and 8s... thanks ill pass I can show you lakes within thirty minutes of the fort that would have no trouble keeping up with the mighty gills of Michigan. I can also show you lakes with dinks and I can go to Michigan and show you lakes with dinks. Prove to me that the panfish limit across the board up in Michigan produces 10" plus gills every trip on any lake you'll make me a believer otherwise I'm not impressed at all with their programs and would call them a complete failure if every lake doesn't produce the 10 inch gills on a consistent basis. Same thing would happen 8 Indiana as Michigan you would have a handful of lakes four lakes is not a success by any means lol

A couple of things here..you are assuming the few guys on the michigan board that do post pics are actually looking for big fish and not just looking for a limit.  There is a big difference and you know what I am talking about.  The 4 lakes I was talking about are not the only 4 lakes in Michigan.  Those are just 4 I can mention right over the line where the spawn season is identical to what we have in N. indiana.  There are tons of lakes in IN that can procduce 8-9 inch gills, but being someone who fishes both states ( I live alot closer to the Mich lakes than I do to the good lakes in IN), the avg thickness and lenth from lake to lake in Michigan is better.  Sure we can all pick a lake or 2 in indiana where a true 10"+ gill can be had, but 8-8.5" are much more common. 

I would like to see some pics on here of true gills on a tape that are legit 10"ers from public IN lakes.  Lots say they are catching them, few really do.

I would be happy if the limit were on from April - July to protect the large spawning males.  Leave the big spawners alone and the rest of the poplation will continue to grow to compete to breed.   A limit is not going to be a magic bullet to create giant gills.  It doesn't create huge gills in every lake that can be caught one after another.  Even in Michigan you are not going to catch a limit of 10+ inch gills, but you can expect to get some.  Some lakes don't have the requirements to produce those 10" fish and bigger, but many do.  To expect that result from the limit is never going to happen.  It is not going fix lakes that are stunted and not going to cause stunting in lakes that are not currently stunted.  Lakes that are out of balance with predators, are not going to be fixed by a limit, but lakes in balance will not suddenly become stunted either.  The lakes in the NE USA don't even get fished for gills because the locals consider them and bass trash fish, but those lakes have huge gills in them and are not stunted.

[DannyBoy74]

Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin rely on there natural resources for revenue. Indiana will probably always be slow when it comes to hunting and fishing regulations because it doesn't. Not a great deal of tourism due to our "unlimited" natural resources here in Indiana.

[Fishking83]

Here are a few pics of some outings and the average size of limits are probably 8.75"+.  If you can find somewhere down there where we can get 25 fish that are 9"+ I'd like to be on the waiting list and would love to take a drive down that way to see what some of those lakes have to offer. 

[angolajones]

Here are a few pics of some outings and the average size of limits are probably 8.75"+.  If you can find somewhere down there where we can get 25 fish that are 9"+ I'd like to be on the waiting list and would love to take a drive down that way to see what some of those lakes have to offer. 

Looks like those bottom fish came from a shallow weedy lake.  Water clarity probably wasn't crystal clear either.  Or am I reading too much into their colors?

[Fishslayer81]

Right here Fishking...



Franke Parks finest.

[wax_worm]

Oh my gosh, you guys are acting like bluegills are an endangered species.  If the lake is "fished out" and only offering little fish, then people will quit fishing it and the fish size will increase.  Sorry, but I'm not looking for a trophy.  I'm looking for some cleaners to eat.  If I catch a big one then great, I will brag. 

You can have cleaners to eat and also big fish in the same lake.  That is what Michigan has.  There are plenty of 8 inch fish (eaters) because those are not the alpha males in those lakes....there are 9.5 and 10" fish that are the spawners.  If you fish a lake out of the larger fish to where nothing exists but 6" fish that are spawning, yes people will stop fishing it, but the lake is not just gong to magically rebound to the size levels as before.  Once the size is driven down to allow small fish to spawn you have a major problem.  It will take years for it to come back if it ever does.  I have seen this begin to happen on a 120 acre lake over the past 10 years.  Very heavy day after day spawn fishing has driven the overall size structure down in the lake for gills.  Where 8" plus fish were common, and a long skinny 10" fish was not too rare, now an 8.5 inch gill is rare there and I have not seen a 10" gill in 5+ years.  the only thing that has changed is the amount of spawning pressure by the same group of people year after year.  They are there every day from memorial day thru June fishing ever single bedding gill and red ear they can find.  The bass fishing has improved, likely because there are many more small gills present to replace the biomass removed by taking all the large adult males off the beds.  In another 5 years this lake may be real live example of what you posted above.  Large lakes have much less of a chance of falling to this type of thing, but it should not happen on any lakes in our state.  If people can't self regulate, then someone else (dnr) will step in. 

Another question...why does no one complain about the 25 fish crappie limit?  It has been there for years and is widely accepted as a good thing.  Somehow 25 crappies are enough, but we should be allowed unlimited gills? 

[wax_worm]

Looks like those bottom fish came from a shallow weedy lake.  Water clarity probably wasn't crystal clear either.  Or am I reading too much into their colors?

No...deep clear lakes....they color is odd because they have been in a cooler on ice or in a white sided livewell than can change the colors on them.

[wallydiven]

Oh my gosh, you guys are acting like bluegills are an endangered species.  If the lake is "fished out" and only offering little fish, then people will quit fishing it and the fish size will increase.  Sorry, but I'm not looking for a trophy.  I'm looking for some cleaners to eat.  If I catch a big one then great, I will brag. 

For those of you who are having trouble catching fish, get better.  A regulation is just that, someone else telling you what you can do.  If the species were about to go extinct, then yes, there should be a regulation.

Me personally, I'd rather clean 6  10"ers rather than 10  8"ers for a meal. Mind you I never keep more than 8 for a meal and I always eat them right after I clean them. I love catching and 95% of my fish get released. I catch a lot of fish every season but only keep enough to enjoy a few meals. I'd rather catch a few big ones than a bunch of little ones with a "keeper or 2" in the mix.

[Fishking83]

One last thing before I go to bed.  I don't care where I fish Indiana or Michigan, I fish both quite often.  I would love to see Indiana lakes crank out the quality of fish that Michigan lakes produce.  Does every Michigan lake have great quality fish, absolutely not.  I would just like to see a limit put on panfish and see if it would give the Indiana lakes an opportunity to produce the quality of fish that some lakes north of the border are capable of producing.  Gas is not getting any cheaper and I would love to see some of the southern guys catching 9.5-10" fish in their backyard without having to drive north or pay for a Michigan license.  If a lake can produce quality fish and you are just meat hunting then you wont have to catch as many to get the same amount of meat.  Put the limit on gills and see if they get any bigger, its worth a shot, if it doesn't work then I can guarantee you it wasn't the first failure by the DNR.  If it works then you can get 25 quality fish and maybe get the same amount of fillets from them as you were getting from cleaning more fish before.  This means more fish for your next trip or for the other anglers.  Fewer fish to clean means less time in the cleaning station and I'm all for that.  Like I said I fish plenty of Indiana lakes.  I've actually ice fished in Indiana waters more this ice season than I have in the past 6 years.  I would just like to see them limit what guys can take in hopes of making a better fishery.  I love to catch fish just as much as the next guy but honestly who really needs 100 fish each trip.  That's 200 fillets.  A Michigan limit or 50 fillets is enough for 2 meals for my wife and I.  In the long run none of us can control what happens with the limit I would just like to see if it can help produce bigger fish.  If so its a win-win for everyone, unless you are the guy who needs to catch 100 each outing. 

[wax_worm]

Right here Fishking...



Franke Parks finest.

LOL  at Franke Park Joe....Those are nice fish, but I think they are red ear/bluegill hybreds in your pic which are always thicker.  I may be wrong and I am sure someone will correct me if so, but those don't look to be pure gills to me.  Dandy fish either way.  Spkplug we need a fish ID!  LOL

[High Tide]

If you weighed 83's gills to 81's it would be no contest, and to think Indiana stacks up to Michigan gills is crazy. I know plenty of good sticks that can fill buckets at will that are in favor of the limit, so not being able to catch fish is not the problem. I don't think it needs to be aggregate with crappie, but 25 each. The last couple ice seasons where short and for some crazy reason, folks are catching more harvestable fish this year.  It's not a coincidence IMO.

[Fishking83]

AngolaJones the pics I posted came from several diff. lakes.  I would consider all of them to be clear water and all have water deeper than 30+ feet.  Some of them deeper than that.  Slayer I love to see the pics of big Indiana gills.  I'm glad the Hoosier state can crank out some brutes like that.  I just think that 25 fish of that size is plenty for one person.  I would love to see several lakes that can produce fish of that size.  I'm guessing that less than 25% have fish like that, and I guessed on the high side.  If you want a sidekick I'd love to go fishing down that way sometime

[angolajones]

Me personally, I'd rather clean 6  10"ers rather than 10  8"ers for a meal. Mind you I never keep more than 8 for a meal and I always eat them right after I clean them. I love catching and 95% of my fish get released. I catch a lot of fish every season but only keep enough to enjoy a few meals. I'd rather catch a few big ones than a bunch of little ones with a "keeper or 2" in the mix.

If I thought the regulation was going to make me be able to go out and get 25 10"  fish, then yes I would be for it. 

I've fished Coldwater through the ice and know that you will sort through upteen million small fish to get a keeper.  Yes there are some hawgs in there but it is a pain to keep catching the tiny fish.

Catching the fish off the beds is another story.  If someone is targeting them then it could be a problem during the spawn.  But, a few people should not cause everyone to have to pay the price.

On another note, I only panfish during the ice season.  So, I am not aware of what is happening during the other times of the year.

[Rabidgupy]

Right here Fishking...



Franke Parks finest.

Dangit Joe you gave away the spot!!! Lol

[wax_worm]

If I thought the regulation was going to make me be able to go out and get 25 10"  fish, then yes I would be for it. 

I've fished Coldwater through the ice and know that you will sort through upteen million small fish to get a keeper.  Yes there are some hawgs in there but it is a pain to keep catching the tiny fish.

Catching the fish off the beds is another story.  If someone is targeting them then it could be a problem during the spawn.  But, a few people should not cause everyone to have to pay the price.

On another note, I only panfish during the ice season.  So, I am not aware of what is happening during the other times of the year.

Lakes have to have little fish to support and grow big fish.  Lots of lakes have dinks you sometimes have to weed thru to get the better fish, but if the lake has 10+" gills in it, you can bet there are quite a few of them and it is a matter of finding the right schools of bigger fish.  I have had days on Wawa where you would think there was not a 7 inch gill in the lake.  Same with some trips to Michigan lakes, but most of the time it is a matter of moving to find the schools of bigger fish. 

As I said before, limit or close the panfish season during the spawn and I think that would do the same or more for most lakes than a 25 fish limit year round would.  If you don't fish except for the winter you are missing witnessing the slaughter that goes on during the spawn on many lakes.  Again, the smaller the lake the more vulnerable it is to heavy harvest during the spawn. 

[Rabidgupy]

Lol for every Michigan so so fish I can throw up monsters that crush those thirty minutes from the fort I see no need at all to drive up to Michigan to catch smaller fish..... 8.75 average that's a joke of a fish management program....





Lol I'll take Indiana lakes over Michigan any day of the week 8.75 average... Why drive to Michigan when you can catch as many of that average in Indiana?

[Rabidgupy]

More dinks all over 9.

[wallydiven]

Lol for every Michigan so so fish I can throw up monsters that crush those thirty minutes from the fort I see no need at all to drive up to Michigan to catch smaller fish..... 8.75 average that's a joke of a fish management program....
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Lol I'll take Indiana lakes over Michigan any day of the week 8.75 average... Why drive to Michigan when you can catch as many of that average in Indiana?

And i see a lot of those fish in the bottom pic a redears. Big difference between gills and ears! BTW, Michigan has ears too!!!

Where were you for the NAIFC? You could've kept the trophy in Indiana!!!

[Rabidgupy]

Couple more Indiana dinks... I could fill ten pages of Indiana trophies get out and LOOK there all over the place....

[northrn-duck-assassin]

ill still take my trips up north for true trophy gills and crappie. but some nice eats ya got there for sure!

[wallydiven]

Almost 10"ers but not quite. Nice fish for sure but keep trying.

[Rabidgupy]

And i see a lot of those fish in the bottom pic a redears. Big difference between gills and ears! BTW, Michigan has ears too!!!

Where were you for the NAIFC? You could've kept the trophy in Indiana!!!

For some reason my boss aka wife wouldn't let me blow 20k on what I'd want to get around everywhere.
Hard to compete 5 hours on foot although by the looks of it probably could of caught a few channel slumming and placed pretty high must oh been some brutal conditions there! If I were single be fun though for sure to go to all the lakes.

[northrn-duck-assassin]

8.75, 9, 10" gills... y would a person need more than 25?? bring on the limits!