Bluegill

[176champion]

Florida has some nice big Blue gill..average is about both your hands put together..fun as all heck on a 10 foot cane pole...lol

[Gavin]

Might be fun to do an OAF Bluegill Slaughter. Teams of 2, entry fee of $X, team with the biggest bluegill wins. Split pot. Cover costs, rest to winners, maybe some or all to charity, winners choice. Just need a venue to host, fry fish, and $3 drafts. Could do Summer long bluegill, but based on length against an approved measuring device and a photo identifier and pic with a current date stamp.

[MoCarp]

I grew up fishing those old cane poles , The pits around  Pittsburg & Columbus Ks have produced State record class sunfish.

Warmouth, Pumpkinseed, bulegill and Redear are ones I have landed over a pound in those waters, the harder the pit to get to the bigger the sunfish will be on average.

wax worms and red worms on a long shank "bream hook" with a quality float ( thill brand or quill type) will make a huge difference for big fish, I would tell you to be very selective on harvest in these smaller pits..taking an ice chest out of 11+ inchers will set back the waters trophy potential for a decade (I know I have done it and learned from it) one pit I cause a hybrid sunfish almost 2-1/2 pounds and let it go, pound was tiny 1/3 acre at best, I had hoped to catch it again..never did .

Float tubes and a 10 foot length of sturdy rope will help you crawl out of one pit to another, a real easy thing to type but very hard to do!

some times  a light set of waders are recommended for Poison Ivy control as its everywhere, usually in that pit you found!

many weedy pits are full of shrimp, scuds and daphnia, the ones that do can grow monsters!

I used a 9 foot ultra lite rod and a just above ultra lite reel spooled with green 4lbs line sometime 2lbs I always carried a extra spool or 4 ...lol

all those extra pockets on a vest come in handy when you over a mile from your truck

pumpkin seed and warmth pics attached  

[MoCarp]

Here are the bobbers and style of hook,  good pair of hemostats help on unhooking, if you gut hook a big big fish cutting the line and releasing is best

 

[MoCarp]

as a side note I'd love for MDC to stock these in our lakes for zebra mussel control..

perhaps we could get some of these pigs!

[snagged in outlet 3]

The local farmers coop sells hybrid bluegill and I've had the pleasure of fishing some private ponds stocked with them.  Pounders are common and they will flat hammer a popper on a fly rod.

[moguy1973]

31 minutes ago, snagged in outlet 3 said:

The local farmers coop sells hybrid bluegill and I've had the pleasure of fishing some private ponds stocked with them.  Pounders are common and they will flat hammer a popper on a fly rod.

My inlaws have greenies in their pond and they are voracious. They will bite just about anything.  I should break out my fly rod and give them a try with that sometime.  

[dblades]

I'm pretty sure it was the spring of 95, hadn't been retired long, was throwing a grub in Rock Creek around some flooded brush. Had a fish grab and start a fight, was sure I had a five pound bass on. Got it to the boat and it was a 2 1/2 lb bluegill, biggest I've ever seen.I really wish I had a picture of that fish, one of the ones that I'll always remember. So the chances of catching a really big gill in Table Rock aren't bad.

[MoCarp]

I have caught some nice gills near,... the campbell point area, and some huge rock bass well over a pound.....2.2 is the state record TR may beat that one day

Fishing Shoal Creek once in the 70's my brother caught a rock bass that weighed 3lbs even on an old Zebco de-liar scale ...and let it go because he was to lazy to clean it he still talks about it...would have been a state record easy, we lived on the banks not too far below grand falls, wade fished almost every day