length
Ice Fishing
what size bluegill do you keep?
Displaying 1 to 15 of 45 posts
Depends on where I'm fishing at if it's public waters around my area I'll keep the 6 to 8 inch gills, if I'm at our family pit I'll keep the 6 to 9 inches and let the 10 to 12 inch'ers go unless they swallowed the hook too deep and bleeding bad, if you throw those back all your doing is wasting a good fish because it will only die later and float under the ice.
I only keep the limit that's set for which lake that I'm fishing at, and if I'm at the family pit I'll harvest 10 to 15 gill's along with 10 to 15 crappies so that I have enough for a family fish fry. Tho most of the time I just let them all go, unless their badly hooked and bleeding bad.
On most bodies of water, I strive to keep 7.5 - 9" gills. Anything smaller and they are a pain in the A$$ to clean with my electric fillet knife and and any bigger and guys in public forums would burn my house down if they ever found out I kept some! As a rule, I prefer to keep black crappies and perch to eat before I keep gills. Not because gills don't taste good, but the others taste fine and are much easier to clean and no one seems to care or judge a guy that clubs a bunch of 10-12" crappies, which will yield more meat than a big bluegill. I love catching big gills, but see no need to keep them as I can catch larger crappies and walleyes to eat.
The size of gills you keep really comes down to what body of water your fishing. The Mississippi is easily the best bluegill and perch fishing in Wisconsin that's why mostly everyone has only mentioned the Mississippi river on this thread. Alot of mostly smaller Minnesota lakes in the north and west are just as good as the Mississippi just a longer drive for some. Last year a kid fishing the Mississippi got a 12" Gill on the Mississippi he kept it to mount I didn't believe it till I saw it. Which is fine by me it's a trophy.
I am more of a catch and release guy but I do keep enough for a meal about 5-6 times a year, I have never put a fish in the freezer in my life. If I can't eat it fresh I throw it back. I agree with the 7 3/4" to 8.5". A 7" gill is too small to fillet. I never tried cooking them whole, but that looks good. a limit of ten would be nice. As far as 10 not being enough to feed a family of 5-6, for every family member that goes with you thats another 10, get them kids out there if they want to eat fish.
Minnesota DNR were the ones to push the limit reductions, WI agreed and got on board. Iowa DNR did not agree and wanted to leave as is.
I live a few miles from the river and fish it often. 4/5 people I talk to out fishing are out of towners, driving anywhere from 2 hours to 10 hours to get here. They come for a few days load up on fish and head home. Some people rent a house for the week and limit out everyday. As mentioned before, hardly anyone follows the possession limit. If dropping the daily limit to 10 keeps people away, that is a good thing in my eyes.
I'm primarily C&R and will let the big ones go unless they're bleeding from the gills, etc. A few 6-8" fish is enough for a meal for me when I keep them. I also travel 150+ miles a couple times a year to the Mississippi for a day of fishing and it's the trip for me, not the meat.
In my opinion, the possession limit needs some work. Or just needs to be followed/better enforced in general. Its a lot harder to enforce and usually is only enforced for gross violations but lots of folks definitely go over it regularly.
I think we need to be at 15 statewide for a start. 10 on the other lakes they have in that program already. Mississippi 15 per species is a great thing. I don't see any reason to lower it to 10. they moved it to 15 before over harvest was an issue but that came from the Iowa DNR, not from WI. they just decided to agree to it. The size of the gills are gradually decreasing elsewhere throughout the state on for the most part, I think 15 statewide is a good thing. leave the mississippi at 15 per. If you fish it alot, there aren't many days many people are catching 45 fish to keep. you find the mother load of perch, it's perch. If you find a mixed bag, most time you'll limit on one, not limit on the others. There are times, but it's not happening regularly.
IF you lower the limit to 10, people will just go back out and defeat the whole purpose. sad, but true. 10 gills for a family of 5 or 6 doesn't work. It seems to me like people like to tell others what their family needs. pretty comical. My 3 kids can polish off 20 fillets from 8 inch gills like nothing.
To answer the OP, 7 3/4 to 8.5, anything under or over that slot goes back for me. Now if it's the first day of ice and I need fish. 7 3/8 - 9.
If the sole purpose of making a 200 mile trip is bluegill fillets I think it's probably not a practical means of getting food. People make a 200 mile trip for an awesome fishing experience. Keeping that awesome fishing experience is more important for tourism than people keeping 10-15 more pannies. Pressure hasn't gone down here with 10 less panfish.
It sounds to me like folks who live on or very near rivers and lakes and can easily catch what they want and when are in favor of very selective size and bag limits but what about the poor guy who can only fish a very few times a year or can’t make that 200 mile trip but once a year? How does he feel when he finds out that he’s only allowed 5 or 10 pannies to take home. I sure as heck wouldn’t like it and neither would tourism. This is of course is only my opinion. CARPIO
Agreed on the 10 as well. The chain by our cabin when to the 10/10/5 rule and I like it. People can't just park on one species and load up. You can still get 25 if you want, but you have to work multiple spots because typically you aren't getting 3 different species consistently (on those lakes anyways).
Displaying 1 to 15 of 45 posts
