I previously did a paper on bluegills and in there I mentioned catch and release on big male bluegills due to reproduction habits. Bluegills have a different style of reproduction than the majority of fish species. To keep the good genetics in the system, it is good to practice some catch-and-release especially on the bigger males.
In the bluegill world males tend to be bigger than females which is uncommon in most of the game fish species in this area. Growing up in northwest Iowa I fished the Iowa Great Lakes and some local ponds where bluegills are abundant most years. Even in my short 22 years of life and roughly 10 years of lots of fishing, I have seen lakes go from quality bluegills fisheries, to almost a stunted, smaller size quality population. It is not easy to go from a smaller quality population back to a good quality population.
How Bluegill Reproduce
If you have ever looked along a shore line and saw a bunch of lighter sandy circles in an area you are looking at a bluegill bedding area. These can go from just a few beds to hundreds of beds in an area depending on the quality of the spawning habitat and the year. Once a female comes in and lays their eggs males are ready to do their job.
Big male bluegills are dominant when it comes to mating. Which means the bigger males are the ones doing most of the reproduction. The bigger males are in the middle of the circle of beds and then as size goes down they are farther out on the edges of beds and trying to work their way in. Genetic wise if you are releasing those true, bull bluegills you are keeping the genetic potential in the system. If people are keeping the big males you can over time lower the quality of the genetics in that system. Once the big males are gone it is hard to get them back because of the fast reproduction bluegills have. The smaller males will start to be in the middle and instead of having 9 to 10 inch male bluegills on most the beds over time you will lower the size to being mostly 7 and 8 inch fish doing most the reproduction.
Fishing Beds
Everyone enjoys catching big bluegills whether it’s for table fare or just catching fish with the kids and family. In the spring, fishing bluegills beds is some of the best fishing of the year. It is every cast and instant bites most the time. This is a blast and by no means am I saying not to fish beds. But in the spring, when those big males are on the chew it is beneficial to the system to let those big males swim and keep the 7’s to 9’s for table fare. You can catch lots of bluegills on these beds year after year. But if you keep most of the top end quality in the system eventually the size quality will decrease and you will not have the quality males needed to have a good bluegills fishing in the future.
Conclusion
By no means am I trying to say not the keep bluegills. Growing up I kept many limits of bluegills and still like to keep some limits of bluegills throughout the year as they are great table fare. I am just trying to inform about catch and release of big male bluegills and selective harvest on the 7 to 9 inch fish for the table. Hopefully this article helped explain the why’s and how’s bluegills reproduce and what we can do as fishermen to help the populations.
Related Reading
Find out how Chris targets bluegill all year long in Guide to Catching Bluegill Year Round.
Bluegill are a favorite of nearly all local fishing holes. Nick breaks down how he targets bluegill and other panfish in Small Pond Strategies: Panfish.
