Yes, I am looking forward to getting out myself! I have not tried a electric knife yet. Hardscrable, are you referring to the two men that drowned in Kosciusko county? I know the family of the Young Man and him from Bremen.
What water are you on?Went out at 5 this afternoon just for the heck of it. First cast a decent gill. Next cast another decent gill. Caught 15 or 16 in about 35 or 40 minutes but those first two were the best. Wind picked up. Hands cold so I quit. Kept 5 or 6 in live basket. Will see about adding to that tomorrow.
What water are you on?
Cmon folks, lets see some pics. Don't forget to include the ruler.
No ruler necessary. I will flat out tell you a ton of bluegills last couple days but only about 2 large enough for me to normally keep. I have kept enough to make cleaning worthwhile but over all really disappointing size wise . Last year the size was down considerably from a ten year average. Now this year is starting small. Concerns me as to possible changes that may be taking place. Today 4 of us were in a 75 ft long "spot". All had same results...a lot of fish but no size.
No ruler necessary. I will flat out tell you a ton of bluegills last couple days but only about 2 large enough for me to normally keep. I have kept enough to make cleaning worthwhile but over all really disappointing size wise . Last year the size was down considerably from a ten year average. Now this year is starting small. Concerns me as to possible changes that may be taking place. Today 4 of us were in a 75 ft long "spot". All had same results...a lot of fish but no size.
If I can get ahold of it, it's worth filleting. I never throw any back. Problem where I fish is too many gills in the pond. Not enough food. Keep all you catch and soon they'll be bigger.[/QUOTE
To each his own. There was a time I kept and cleaned most everything. Those days are long gone. I enjoy fishing ( OK, truthfully I enjoy catching fish ). I do not enjoy cleaning fish. It is only my wife and myself eating them ( plus what I give away ). So if I kept everything and only in amounts that we consume, I would have to severely curtail my fishing...not going to happen. I throw back small ones, the largest ones ( genetics...read recent studies showing genetics of larger growing fish contribute to larger growing offspring ) or anything I catch after I have all I want to clean for that day ( and some days I want to clean zero ).
An an overpopulated pond does require thinning the herd so to speak. Are there predictor fish also or simply stocked with panfish ? A pond requires proper management...correct and balanced species, adequate food ( possibly including supplemental ), vegetation, oxygen, water quality, etc. Our lake just completed a 5 year study by DNR. Confirms same things as past studies. Average to slightly below growth rates for pan fish due to food supply, etc. population of panfish is within accepted parameters. Large population of predictors - large mouth ( high ), small mouth ( stocked, not natural ), northern ( natural & DNR stockings in past ), walleye ( stocked ). We had a larger than normal fish kill last winter ( 2014 - 15) and it appeared to be mainly bigger gills & redears. Thinking this may be partly responsible.
All that said, yesterday had much better results. Wouldn't even guess how many I caught but sure was 100+. Kept 24 to clean. Still more small ones that would like to see but almost zero really small ones. Much better overall size & some slab sized. Aggressiveness of bites is was also more noticeable...really smack it sometimes. No crappies yet but caught several large mouth on crappie minnows. Neighbor kid was tossing an artificial night crawler and lost a super nice large mouth at the shoreline.
Other side of channel the owner does not post it as no trespassing. Had 6 guys lined up in 50 - 75 ft fishing & me on my side. Makes it interesting at times...agrivating also. Will continue drawing more people as time goes by.
Asked him if he knows how to use his depth finder..........that's like asking if he remembered to turn off the propane grill. Yes I turned off the grill. No I don't understand why a new tank is empty and the grates are so clean.
Yum!! Hubby went fishing again today but isn't getting any bites. Fish finder is showing fish, but they just aren't biting...