blue gill

Question
Hope you can give an answer.  I love to bluegill fish and in Tennessee are numberous lakes, ponds, creeks. My concern is the catch and release.  Some say that blue gill are profilic breeders and not be concerned about keeping them for eating.  I only keep what I can use anyway.  Some others say Keep a few big ones only.  What is your opinion?  Thanks

Answer
Austin,
First off, thanks for stopping by All Experts.

Although I do a lot of bass fishing, bluegills have always been a "fun" fish for me.  They were what I trained on when I was a kid, and the first fish I landed sole at the age of 4 was a bluegill.  

I fish for them year around, but probably more in the winter when ice fishing.  Of course, you lucky folks in Tennessee don't have to worry about the hard water.

As for your question, yes, bluegill populations can be damaged.  In my work in the outdoor media I've had the opportunity to speak with fisheries people in the DNR.  One of the best, told me that during the winter (ice fishing), and spawning seasons bluegill populations can be wiped out, especially in small bodies of water.  In this statement he was referring to the breeder stock.  He said he has seen many smaller lakes severely damaged in the ice season when anglers will find a prime holding area, and constantly harvest fish daily.

I can remember when a well known person from your state, Bill Dance, said you should be cautious when harvesting bluegill, especially in spawning season.

The bigger fish, as you will know, are vulnerable at that time.  This is not only the breeder stock, but also a genetic pool that can be wiped out.  The same thing has happened to lakes that used to have huge bass, and now it is rare to get them.  Virgil Ward taught me a little about that when I was working around him.  He is a very conservation minded person, and says if people knew what they know now, back when they took huge stringers of big fish for photos, they would have never done it.

A former seminar partner of mine, who is known for panfishing, stresses in all of his seminars that even bluegills can be overharvested.  He only takes what he wants, and releases the rest.  On somedays he doesn't even do that since he fishes as I do - several times a week.

Bluegills can overpopulate a body of water, but in most cases, if it has a good balance of predator fish, and things have not be altered too much, they should be controlled.  In the case of over population, it is best to keep some of the smaller ones, and release the larger to middle size.  In some cases it is recommended to keep the mid-size, and release all the others, much like a bass slot limit.

Hope this has answered some of your question, and if you have any others don't hesitate to ask.

Best of fishing,
Dan