I wouldn’t call myself much of a bluegill fisher but are they ever thick all over pool 9 right now. Every once in a while a large bull makes it to the boat reminding me of my cane pole childhood, panfishing around Goose Island. Sure hope these larger ones keep showing up in larger numbers. Why doesn’t everyone just put there five gallon pails away for a while and let them grow?? Heck they will be a lot bigger meal if we do. Lawrence
In making plans for Labor Day weekend with an uncle of mine, he informed me once I got there that we’d spend most of our time searching for gills and crappies………..which is fine. But he made the comment that he grew up being taught that you fished for meat so he and the brothers just learned to go with what’s catchable………….panfish! C&R with panfish is probably the last frontier of the concept because everyone uses them for something. In some areas the pannies are so over populated that they never grow big anyway so what I’d like to see is people thinning some of those areas while developing the “trophy” waters. Small gills are excellent pickled, and just like pike, the bones go soft and aren’t an issue. In general, what I still notice today is that panfish are still considered “the keeper species” among the recreational weekend anglers. The uncle I fished with also mentioned that while he enjoys fishing for other fish, he’s never had the opportunity to get good at it and in terms of food, never developed the desire to get good at catching any other fish because of his quest for a fry.
Just some observation and interpretation.
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