Personal Best Bluegill

[Eskimo]

Yes, I said Bluegill.
I like these fish. They taste delicious and you can harvest them without the guilt of degrading the fishery or poisoning yourself with mercury.




I was hoping to drag my kayak out of storage this weekend, but the impending rain on Saturday and the high water delayed these plans.

I drove up to the Delaware Water Gap intending to find some slower pools on the Delaware River and fish from the shoreline, but I found there was no slow water anywhere on the river. The water was high and fast and there were no fish to be found. On top of that, it started to rain.

Dejected, I drove over to the Gap's Water Gate picnic area on Old Mine Road between the power lines and Millbrook Village. There is a little pond in the picnic area. I had low expectations because that little pond is hammered non-stop by anglers and picnickers from ice-out to ice-up.

As you would expect from any picnic area of the Delaware Water Gap, the bushes are littered with dozens of Cornona bottles, food wrappers, and juice containers. Even in the rain, there were a bunch of guys fishing the pond with their big foam cups of Canadian Nightcrawlers.

I was surprised to see that there were actually a lot of fish in that pond. Perhaps the pond is stocked? I even saw a half-dozen smaller-sized Largemouth Bass spawning in the shallows.

Knowing these are pressured fish, I tied on a smaller plastic worm, pinched on a split-shot and gave it my best try. The bass seemed interested in the worm, but never hit it. Through the rain dimpled water, I could see them following the lure and closely inspecting it, but better judgement kept them from picking it up.

Before it stopped raining, I caught a variety of fish including Yellow Perch, Bluegill, Pumpkinseed, and a big Pickerel that cut me off like he had a pair of scissors.

The biggest surprise of the afternoon was an enormous Bluegill. I should have measured it before I released it, but it was at least nine inches in length and had a round hump back.

When the rain stopped and the sky cleared, the fishing stopped dead. All things considered, this wasn't my worst afternoon. I had a good time, even though I didn't catch a single bass. In the end, that's all that really matters.


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[buzzbaiter]

That's a dandy 'gill. Avg male hand is about 7 to 8" tip of middle finger to wrist so that's over nine and close to 10"

When that pond is full pool - like it is now - they bucket brigade can't fish the far side (closest to road) because of all the thorn bushes right up to the edge. This is when I throw on a pair of waders and work that shoreline. Its good for the fish you mentioned. That pond was great when the road was closed for about 3 months a few years ago.It was also better when they left the shrubs along the bank grow. They cut most of them down to make it easier to fish and this is when the fishing went downhill. Easier fishing = poor fishing. Leave them bushes alone! Fish need some "safe" areas to. The geese don't like the shrubs either and it would help keep them away. This sort of "pond" management drives me nuts.

[jimcnj]

Nothing wrong with Bluegills-beautiful fish.

[acabtp]

Originally Posted by Eskimo

Yes, I said Bluegill.
I like these fish. They taste delicious and you can harvest them without the guilt of degrading the fishery or poisoning yourself with mercury.

i agree 100%

that is a really nice bluegill. very 'showy'... to me it looks a lot different from most of the other bluegills up in the northern parts of the state... very large gill flap and long fins by comparison. more like the 'gills that they catch down south. i wonder why the difference. very nice fish.

[Mike M]

Nice fish.

[Skunk City]

The State considers 9" and bigger to qualify as a "Skillful Angler". Nice catch, good fighters on light tackle!

[acabtp]

to better illustrate how different looking the one you caught is, here for comparison are what i'd call some "typical" NNJ bluegill
female

male


yours much different: blunter shape, much larger gill flap, the dorsal fin goes all the way back to the base of the tail fin, pec fins extend past the vent, pelvic fins extend past the anal fin

very cool looking fish you caught there

(don't get any ideas lurkers, these ones already had their pics sent in to DFW haha)

[UglyStick]

Awesome 'gill ... great post - thanks and keep them coming...

[Eskimo]

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Thanks all.

I don't know why that Bluegill looked so different. Maybe it was stocked and it came from a different gene pool then the native sunfish.

I'm kicking myself for not taking a better picture of it next to a ruler before releasing it. Oh well. I can't do anything about it now.

I like the delicate flavor of sunfish fillets. There's isn't much meat on an individual fish, so gathering enough fillets for a meal is a bit of a time investment.

I even spent $55 on a Panhandler fish filleting gizmo. It allows you to quickly fillet out sunfish and leave relatively little meat on the carcass. We'll see how long this thing lasts. Here's a video about the 'Panhandler' from someone I assume is the inventor:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnGfkfAhNIY

Here is a pic of my Panhandler:

[Lard Almighty]

That's a 'gill to be proud of! Congrats!

My brother and I used to fish the Watergate ponds quite a bit when we lived closer. We always did pretty well there on the bass and pickerel. Even though the ponds get a lot of pressure, most people are using worms under fist-sized bobbers. Unweighted tubes and soft jerkbaits were usually the ticket. In the summer when they got really weedy, dragging a frog across the tops of weeds yielded some awesome strikes.