Why Are Bluegill Getting Smaller? A Science-Based Path to Better Fishing

[@penguin12902]

I think it's super smart to make those tighter regs on just certain lakes. It allows people who want those BIG fish, to seek out those low limit lakes. The guys who want a cooler full of average fish can go hit up a lake with standard regs.

[@boogiekush9391]

As a new fisherman my first fish was a bluegill and I have slowly fallen in love with these beautiful and tasty fish, they fight like hell and are the colors on the small ones just makes me happy 🙌🏾 great video and thank you

[@Wired2Fish]

Thanks a lot for watching! Glad you have the same respect for bluegill-

[@ermertaylor2066]

Awesome little documentary. Would love to see more of these types of videos, across different species and regions of the country. 👍🏽

[@collieer]

Wouldn’t cable tv be great if quality videos like this were played?

[@Wired2Fish]

Thanks for watching, Ermer Taylor!

[@tmo4330]

Fish get smaller because people throw the small ones back. I keep every small fish I catch and have found a way to fillet bluegill that weigh only 2 ounces. In an average year, I fillet several thousand fish. This helps the larger bluegill to dominate. We see several 1 1/2 pounders every year. Kept 96 one day with weight of 54 lbs! Other friends of mine have a much smaller average size fish in their ponds than I do. You must manage to get the most out of your pond.

[@reedsutter8485]

First thing I taught my kids about fishing was how to identify and release bull males bluegills. I love this explanation. Someday, I’ll catch (and release) my first 10” bluegill. I’ve been fishing for over 40 years in Minnesota and I don’t have one yet. This DNR initiative will help.

[@InTheWoodsToday]

From Grand Rapids, Michigan to Grand Rapids, Minnesota much love and respect. We need much more conservation efforts. Id love to catch the huge Gills my father tells stories about, but even more so, would love to see my own son catch some. 🤙🐟

[@Wired2Fish]

Thats what it's all about. Big bluegills are starting to become a memory. A lot of people got hooked on fishing from catching those feisty pie plates at an early age!

[@FishAnything]

Amazing video! I talk about this a lot and I’m glad to see a leader in the industry spreading his this information

[@Wired2Fish]

Thanks a lot for watching and spreading the word!

[@conradboykoii1170]

Back in the early 70s, we had a couple bays on the north side of Lake St. Clair, and it was nothing to load up on jumbo bluegill, and yellow perch. But we moved away from Michigan in 1975, and I never returned to go fishing anyways, but in 2009 I moved back, and took my boat back to the bays of childhood memory, and the thick pencil reeds that grew so dense in the those bays were nonexistent except for the edges along the shore of the little islands and weedbeds and sand bars. And they grew so thick that dad would have to use his Rapala knife to cut the reeds off the prop when we left. Really sucks too, because the sunfish and persh had plenty of hiding spots from the pike and muskie that would come through, so they grew massive. Dad said if they're under 10 inches, let them go to get bigger. But the zebra mussels and gobys have really changed things. The mussels are so thick on the river bottom they'll cut your line drifting for walleye too.

[@soluteemoji]

Grand Rapids born Biologist here. We are so fortunate for public outreach like this. Look at that view count!! 👀

[@jabroskijohson2912]

Michigan GAAANGG!!!!

[@rodneygreen9968]

It really sounds like the Minnesota DNR has it well figured out for the Bluegill & Crappie size growth & harvest. Many years ago I fished the lakes in that state. I live in Missouri. I wish that this state had a better program like that. Great Video guys. Keep the Wonderful fishing information coming from the Other States. 👍👍

[@Wired2Fish]

Thanks for watching Rodney Green! Spread the good word-

[@oblio10]

Missouri checking in!

[@DWSOutdoors]

This needs to be more Wide Spread Information that people learn when they start fishing

[@FishingThePNW]

It is so awesome to see that Minnesota actually cares about what the anglers want/need! Washington state needs to take notes. However, our department of fish and wildlife is an absolute joke and needs a complete overhaul.

[@stevey4192]

A significant issue for crappie populations is side scanning sonar in the winter. Schools can easily be located that way and fishermen can set up right on top of them.

[@TheLoojlis1]

Love these types of videos! Keep them coming

[@Wired2Fish]

Big thanks! We were very passionate in creating it. Would love to do more with Dave and other fisheries biologists.

[@ThePentUpAngler]

Such a GREAT video. Incredible amount of specific information. This Biologist did such a good job. Incredible. Wish I could get him down here to Louisiana to analyze my 10 acre lake. Thanks for creating this video and kudos to you and the Biologist.

[@kingofsl8891]

Glad to see this at home in north east Minnesota

[@reelfranco3642]

Saw some behind the scenes footage on Instagram of this, I've been waiting for this one! Awesome!

[@tuloko16]

Excellent presentation. In my opinion and what i have experienced on the field, education is key. If you take a new angles and tell them “this is the limit because we say so”, they may follow the rule. In fact i noticed that they will try to get up to that limit and take the fish home. But if you educate the angler, they will become more involved and interested on the resources. They also like to share the information they have. And on the social aspect, there is better response when a fellow angler tells you for example “you should release that fish because...”. Versus when the game warden tells them they have to release that fish because its the law or you’ll get a fine.

[@michaelsiengo1]

I fish a private farm pond that only me and a couple other people are allowed to fish and yesterday I caught 30 Shellcracker bream that we’re all about a pound and a half each, and of course, released them all… it’s just overfishing, plain and simple. That’s the problem of the decline of all the species of the lakes and especially the oceans,unfortunately

[@andrewpieper8395]

LOVE THIS! As a MN angler, I as super happy with what you are doing with this. Blue gills have been shrinking for years. I'm all for reduced limits if it gets us bigger fish. Thank you for all your hard work on this. My tax dollars well spent here!

[@JeremyBallard60]

Man I wish evey states fish and wildlife/dnr was this tuned in with the fishing community.

[@thesonorandesertangler]

This is exactly the information I wanted to know about harvesting bluegill. My kids love fishing for bluegill and part of going fishing for them is eating what they catch. We're going to release the males moving forward.

[@Wired2Fish]

Glad we could help! Thank you for watching- Good luck out there!

[@ChuckDeuce15412]

Let 'em go let 'em grow

[@Wired2Fish]

Amen friend!

[@Nep311]

You seem to have missed the point.

[@livin4life]

Great content! Please spread the word about preserving the resources!

[@Wired2Fish]

Thanks, Nathan. We're doing our part to protect the resources we love and rely on-

[@oblio10]

I don’t even live in the state of Minnesota but I thought this video was great!

[@tjab1715]

I haven’t caught a Crappie on Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, and the St. Lawrence River in over thirty years. They are a hard fish to find. Several of my fishing buddies have had luck, but minimal and far and between. Great and tasty pan fish! I would definitely love to see greater numbers of them.

[@canadiangemstones7636]

MN leading the way in conservation, this is awesome!!!

[@trimmin420]

Yet i still to this day cant find a sunfish large enough to fillet within 40 miles of the Twin Cities.

[@thylacine123]

It's been known for many decades that selective harvest by anglers affects fish genetics, in this case creating a fitness landscape that selects for smaller size. Bull male bluegills guarding nests are easy to catch and hard to throw back. Nothing meaningful has been done or will be done about it because by design the MNDNR doesn't have the backbone to do what is necessary. The only real way way to preserve "big fish genetics" is to remove or overcome the selection pressure that is causing the issue. To do this you either have to have no harvest or a maximum size limit on harvest on a healthy population, which would reverse size trends discussed in this video occurring due to size selective harvest. Obviously this would not fly for a general regulation so the genetics of protected populations would then need to be seeded into populations experiencing decreasing size at sufficient rates to counter the existing fitness landscape causing the issue. Gene drives could be used to make this process more efficient. This could be done with currently available tech and resources and would very likely be effective but sadly these options will not be explored because our DNR operates 100+ years behind current fisheries science and is mostly concerned with exploiting our resources for revenue instead of conserving them.

[@ecv03]

Great information. God Bless you guys for this.

[@Shaqoneil81-ci7dr]

I love the science of fish management. So much so that I even added a unit on pond management for my environmental science class.

[@Wired2Fish]

Very cool. It will be great to try to get more kids involved!

[@Shaqoneil81-ci7dr]

@@Wired2Fish I’m going to see if I can get more hands on by trying to get a fishing day for the class.

[@halflife352011]

I hate seeing people throwing cast nets into small public ponds for catfish bait. One time may not hurt a pond, but if they're doing that once or twice a week. They either don't realize this or they don't care.

[@mofomoco]

Then alot of the catfish are released. So many people look at bluegills as junk. To me they are almost the best tasting fish.

[@alleghenyadventures8561]

Luckily I'm close to big lakes full of endless catfish bait... But I've been to overcrowded farm ponds where we needed to thin the gill numbers. If people just look around it's amazing what you can find out there.

[@wayne-oo]

You can’t use sunfish,bluegill or crappie for bait in Minnesota.

[@alleghenyadventures8561]

@@wayne-oo that sucks. Makes amazing bait.

[@DustyU-p8e]

You have to take some of them small ones out because they will overpopulate and stun the growth of other ones

[@dhbfpv]

South east Michigan it would seem they are getting larger. I have caught some monsters while bass fish on Belleville yesterday. Kent lake has been incredible the last few years as well.

[@dankpow]

Do you think feeding your ego will have any effect on those lakes? If you actually watched the video and understood the concept you might realize that you're just acting a "sneaker". I apologize to point that out but this behavior has very negative impacts too.

[@TheHunter1887]

I wish GA and FL would do this. I have notice a big decline in the size and quality of not just Panfish but Bass and Crappie. I usually catch 10-15 panfish just enough for the family to eat. I release all bass over 3lbs i see soo many people post on social media of them keep pretty much everything they catch and i personally think it ruining our lakes.

[@chuckschillingvideos]

You have it exactly wrong. It is the large bass you should be keeping.

[@torment6369]

@@chuckschillingvideos I don't think he has this wrong. A large bass will not eat 15 or whatever limit, nice size bluegill. A fisherman who fish for limits will do way more damage than a bass will ever do. Especially retired old fisherman. People tend to keep big fish to mount or eat leaving the little ones to grow. Then they wonder why they can't seem to catch big ones every year.

[@chuckschillingvideos]

@@torment6369 No, the bass do far more damage than eat fat full grown bluegill. They eat the fingerlings before they even have a chance to reproduce. And they'll eat a whole lot more than 15 "or whatever" immature bluegills. You aren't thinking clearly.

[@jeffjames9568]

Because everybody keeps everything they catch, we need yearly limits not just daily

[@Kaden1227]

Indiana needs to watch this … I feel like even just 10 years ago I was bringing in way bigger sunfish all the time

[@prestonchrisman7382]

Keep doing science-based videos!! There are far too many fishing videos and "experts" out there and not enough content coming from the biologists' side of things!

[@Wired2Fish]

We were very excited to make this video! Would love to do more as concerns arise. We're all very interested in the biology aspect at Wired-

[@dankpow]

People generally forget their manners when harvesting resources. I like to use the candy dish analogy. Do you take one piece of candy from the dish, or one for now and one for later, or do you empty the whole dish in your pocket because "it's legal"?

[@lungchan1729]

Here in Quebec, Canada, we don't have limit on any sunfish (lepomis) maybe that's why we have super small sunfish.

[@johndemuth6735]

Wow, I hope more content like this is released on this channel. We need environmentally conscious fisherman more than we need good fisherman

[@Wired2Fish]

Thanks, John. Everyone here at Wired has a deep appreciation and interest in fisheries biology. We'll try to incorporate more videos like this where and when we can!

[@harounben342]

A great educational video!

[@Wired2Fish]

Glad you think so!

[@PlainsToPinesOutdoors]

My lake has the lower crappie and sunfish limits and 13 inch crappie and 9 inch bluegill are super common

[@funkymojo111]

I had just made a video discussing our lil' bluegill sanctuary along the San Diego river.

[@justtl5885]

Nice work! Hello .....Mich DNR?

[@johnharris7353]

Good work, better than Missouri. The MO Conversation Dept. I like to eat bluegill. I've got no prob throwing the big ones back !

[@motherlandbot6837]

Nest tending Bluegills, particularly those in shallow water, are vulnerable to many enemies. In my area, people routinely snag hook big male Bluegills, Pumpkinseeds, and Black Crappie, even though this is illegal. State Wildlife officers couldn't care less. I often see very small non territorial males of these centrarchids "cheat spawning"; they move in when a large nest tending male is spawning with a female over his nest, and fertilize eggs before the original pair separate and the nesting male drives off the smaller male. Also nesting males readily spawn with tiny females that approach them, so protecting big nesting males is only partially effective.

[@mcgregor6274]

A maximum size limit along with lower creel limits seems like the best way to have larger harvestable bluegill.

[@larryspiller6633]

Catching and keeping those huge Bulls on the beds is part of the reason for smaller fish being caught now. He hit on that. Raping fish off the beds is not a grand idea in the grand scheme of things. Too bad that's exactly what too many do.

[@imperialwhovian3461]

Honestly almost every species needs not only catch limits but also slot limits

[@mellon_eater_6957]

How about also adding a slot limit.. almost every lake ive fished here in mn has a 5 or 10 fish limit but the size quality is the same year in and year out... When ever i see people catching and keeping its always HALF A LIMIT of 8+inchers. The 5 - 10 fish limit wont do anything if everyone's just gonna keep dinner plate size gills....... Its makes no sence on how the dnr think a smaller bag limit will help produce bigger fish if you have all the tourists and people that could carless and the uniformed fishing population that DONT PRACTICE SELECTIVE HARVESTING. Why dont we have laws for selective harvesting on all species of mn fish?? Why do we have it for only a few different species..?? As an avid fishermen who loves catch and release but also practices selective harvesting, im very confused on why we dont have slot limits protecting big sunfish, big crappie and big small mouth/largemouth bass. But yet we have slot limits on fish such as catfish, walleye, pike, and muskie.....

[@explosivemallard8038]

Being able to keep 5 panfish is still PLENTY. If anglers want enough bluegill to feed a family, they should bring their family fishing!

[@alexross26]

In NJ we have the same issue with small sunfish but for different reasons. In NJ we have "mex-icans" that put selective pressure on all fish of all sizes, Regardless of bag limits or laws

[@rubencastillo2506]

Good info.

[@Wired2Fish]

Thanks, Ruben. Spread the word-

[@Butch12]

On our lake we are struggling to understand why we can catch 50 bluegills with our kids but they are ALL 4” +/- . In our community meeting we are discussing the lack of predator fish?! We already have a catch and release for bass and northern and we are catching 35”+ northerns and a good number of bass if all sizes biggest being 5lb we are in a 110 acre private lake in northern Illinois and we do have a tremendous silt and flow problem (and weeds) but our research showed us that’s a $2,000,000 problem we have not figured out how to fix yet. Any honest opinions would be appreciated! Thanks all

[@chuckschillingvideos]

Perhaps you are looking at it wrong. Perhaps you should be keeping the big bass and northerns?

[@mr.chaosvicious5968]

There could be a couple of reasons for that. 1. There are WAY too many Sunfish in that place and if they are all kind of small and runty looking there really isn't enough food to go around and the lack of food is stunting their growth. 2. There are WAY too many bass and other predator fish in that place and there just aren't enough prey items there to feed them, so they are targeting Bluegill really hard causing them to be smaller fish as most of the other bigger fish have already been eaten. If you have too many predator fish in that place, try stocking more native bait fish species to try and help take some pressure off the Bluegill population so they can recover and maybe even add some Bluegill to help bolster their population. Or if there are too many Bluegill in the area, then you stock more Bass and other predator fish to help reduce the Bluegill population and improve their size and quality as there will be less of them competing for food so they will have more available and grow bigger as a result. You might have to even consider having an electrofishing survey done to give you at the very least a rough estimate of how many Bluegill you may have to how many Bass and other predator fish may also be there so you can know the specific issue you have and which course of action you need to take so it can be corrected or at least make some progress towards correcting it, as it may take a few years at minimum to see any noticeable improvements in the fish population.

[@paymaker11]

Thanks for the input. I am actually going to present this thread to our board. I think i didn't fully explain the 2000000 cost I mentioned. back in the 1920;s the lake was allegedly 19' deep and averaged 8' obviously being shallower by our shores. now with our deepest point being 8' and average being 3'. We had been quoted 2 million to dredge, lake and channels. we cant afford that so its been taken off the table. we have been looking for Grants to help us but nothing yet. State said they would help but the lake goes public and no one wants that, me being one of them. I am starting to believe what you both mentioned that we have big predators in the lake. talking to some of the fisherman in the community everyone is catching big northern and big bass. about 4 years ago we did the electroshock audit and all they told us was their was 27 different species of fish in the lake. It had been determined that that was from the 2017 floods we had here. like I said I am going to present this thread to our board and see what input i can get back. Thank you again!

[@mr.chaosvicious5968]

@@paymaker11 Well, after looking at your comment again, it sounds like one of your biggest issues right now aside from slightly lacking fish size and quality is finding out exactly where all that silt and such is coming from if you don't already know, but I'm guessing you do though, and stopping anymore of it from finding its way into the lake is an absolute must do to avoid any further issues. The next issue seems to be clearing a good bit of it out of most of the lake so that it isn't so darn shallow, which I unfortunately don't have any ideas for doing right offhand in a reasonably affordable way, but I'm guessing it will be an ongoing and somewhat drawn out and pricey fix almost any way you go unfortunately without any kind of governmental assistance or paying a team of professional helpers to come in and do it. I would as a start though highly recommend looking into some pond/lake maintenance and problem correction videos to potentially get at least a decent idea of what you could possibly be doing to solve your problem.

[@mikeygermsheid4643]

I agree with 5 fish limit whole heartedly because 1 person doesn’t need more meat than that. I do think it will eventually lead to people only harvesting large bluegills…

[@antwansneed9051]

That’s what we need here in Iowa because the pan fish limits are 25 each on our lakes

[@Wired2Fish]

Protect those big spawners! Thanks for watching!

[@davidarwood6264]

That's way too many for most areas. I never take more than 10 anywhere.

[@jaxaustin181]

You can take 50 a day here in GA and I am definitely having trouble finding big ones.

[@bssaassin1900]

Only happened a few times but I've caught bluegills big enough to eat an 8" senko worm and can be lipped like a bass. Y'all can have all the bluegills to me they are nasty but make great bait and fun for catch and release on a light flyrod

[@davidarwood6264]

I caught and released over 20 yesterday at a old quarry. Earlier this year I kept 10 larger one's. Some of the ones I caught yesterday could have been eaten , but they could be a better size next year. Im confident every one I released lived. I try not to let them swallow the whole hook.

[@carvedwood1953]

Well the laws in my state specifically do the opposite of what they should. Panfish enhancement lakes limit the harvesting of smaller sunfish. Perfect. They should make the harvest of the largest sunfish illegal.

[@FARCRYFRY]

Shocker, to many older fish are being taken out of the lakes.

[@thomas9565]

Michigan is doing great with this. We can catch 100 rock bass on any given day in a UP lake. 😂

[@davidkrumme216]

Never had any lake at least in Oklahoma where I couldn't go out and catch massive bluegills.

[@330Maniac]

But thats a warm climate state. Growth rates down south are much higher. Totally different situation than up here

[@grantjamrock3812]

Wished wisconsin started doing this

[@Wired2Fish]

Let your area DNR supervisors know! Also try to spread the word about releasing large bluegill as you fish!

[@chrissparks6380]

Weed kill and less septic tanks are by far the bigger problem. Southern michigam lakes especially that would be hurt more than helped by slot or lowered limits. Northern lakes could benefit

[@anxietyplague2395]

I don't do fishing and if anybody who understood basically evolution then this was pretty obvious that killing of the big fish would only allow the small ones to breed in turn allowing fish or whatever animal become small

[@Nep311]

Nobody seems to get it

[@davidarwood6264]

Small bluegills are young . Young bluegill that are mature enough to spawn will produce fry that are capable of reaching larger sizes. People are just keeping the bigger bluegills to eat. Sometimes they catch the larger ones that are guarding nest . That's it.

[@corylowe5557]

I'm a data scientist, in Minnesota. I would love to volunteer my time, doing statistical analysis. I love fishing. Can you connect me with someone, so I can help volunteer?

[@corylowe5557]

Currently in Brainerd. Gilbert lake has this regulation and it's beautiful

[@ME-pb2gf]

all species in my area are either getting smaller or fewer. Bluegills are smaller because there are so damned many of them and competition for food keeps them smaller. It's total BS that they "alter their genetics due to predation". If anything, a bigger size would be beneficial to predation avoidance. You need to let people keep as many 7" and less fish as they want and only 5 over 8". Make all fish between 7 and 8" immediate release.

[@Wired2Fish]

The reason they alter their genetics due to predation is because without large males to lead by example, smaller bluegills mature faster and put more energy into reproduction rather than growth. More frequent reproduction compounds the the amount of fish in the system. The lake can only hold so many pounds of fish and they are either goin to be lots of little ones or a few big ones. It's really interesting!

[@ME-pb2gf]

@@Wired2Fish Still reason enough to allow at least a 30 fish limit of

[@JamesLee-yw8hk]

@@ME-pb2gfbluegill are a food staple for so many predator fish. Bluegill have the high reproductive rate to serve as a the food fish for fish in the food chain.

[@girnucci]

5 big gill limit is perfectly legit

[@TheDruxlol]

need this in wisco

[@Wired2Fish]

Get it going! Urge your area DNR supervisor to look in to lakes in your area for reduced limits- Also, spread the word on releasing big males! Thanks for watching, TheDruxlol.

[@bustinbass78]

Not sure I fully agree these are complex problems

[@liampeterson7743]

Don't keep the big bluegill, keep the decent/good sized ones

[@NewNationale]

you know whos are just 100x taking any size home for the 1oz of meat

[@paulveenvliet9130]

Why don't you put a limit on the number of large fish that are harvested, while at the same time allowing a larger number of small ones to be taken? This way, you reduce overall fish density which provides better opportunities for the remaining fish to grow even larger. Also, in natural populations I'd imagine that the survival of large fish is much higher compared to that of small fish, that are a natural prey for many predators.

[@andyd834]

Probably because the people targeting panfish have no concept of fish pop management.

[@N5KDA]

The state record in MS is 3.45 pounds. Overpopulation stunts them big time here.Most places don't have creel limits here.

[@Wired2Fish]

Thats a big one! Gotta let those big males do their thing to promote fast growth in the fishery! Thanks for watching-

[@TrueBlue342]

Who knew... catch all the large fish and the average fish size in the body of water decreases... go fish! 🤷🏽‍♂️

[@theastuteangler]

tragic what happens with crappie fisheries

[@CR250rSMITH]

How about pass a bill saying for 2 years you cant harvest no Sunfish

[@johnnyfish6051]

Im gona put a oversized dollar bill in my wallet and just leave it.

[@H8er-Maker]

The lake in my region just turned out a World Record Green Sunfish. I think it was 7lbs +/- out of Lake Havasu. It looks like a mutant.

[@youtubzkoz]

it's 6.30 monster for a bluegill

[@youtubzkoz]

colorado river lake chain has insane food, temperature stability and area.

[@Wired2Fish]

Are you referring to the new record Redear Sunfish caught at lake Havasu? www.wired2fish.com/record-fish/pending-world-record-redear-sunfish-caught/

[@georgefirman3187]

Ain't it easier to say they are overfished. In our DNR people should be restocking. All they do is collect money.

[@chuckschillingvideos]

When your only tool is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. Of course the DNR cop is going to leap at the opportunity to impose size and bag limits on bluegill fishermen, without considering any other remediation measure - actually, without considering any other reason for bluegills not reaching the largest sizes. What he's NOT talking about is the effect of catch and release bass fishing on bluegill populations. Once upon a time, people actually removed and consumed largemouth bass - but now that catch and release is becoming not just normal but expected if not completely universal. DNR managers love this because largemouth populations and average fish size just keep growing and growing and growing without them having to lift a finger. And bass anglers don't care, because they are happy to throw them back. Why hasn't anyone tried to encourage bass anglers to keep their catch - even if not to eat, perhaps they could be given to food banks and shelters. I firmly believe there is an unworkable imbalance between bass and sunfish populations (obviously in favor of bass) that is far more responsible for suppressing the average size of adult sunfish and believe that is where any remediation should be directed - not at criminalizing sports fishermen.

[@jaxfr8dog]

The gentleman has looked at DATA for over 40 years of limits at different lakes vs lakes without limits. Your feelings matter but the MDNR is using actual science.

[@FooshiAdventures]

Keep the smaller bluegills and let the bigger ones go.

[@MatterVanmoss]

That dude had a mask on 😅😅

[@jameskiker4128]

1:20 scared me

[@jameskiker4128]

Thought there was someone in my house or something

[@kielbasathief9576]

Same😂

[@matthewg8922]

Down here in south west florida the bluegill are huge. Even in tiny drainage ponds almost all the ones I catch are over 8". Just use a bigger bait and catch the bigger bluegill. Then let em go if you ain't hungry. Edit: Not trying to disagree with the video. I'm just proud of my fishery. Come down here and catch you some monsters!

[@Wired2Fish]

In the northern US bluegill don’t grow year round. It takes a long time for them to get big and can be easily wiped out and not easily replaced. In florida they grow everyday. So this doesn’t exactly apply. Thanks thou.

[@matthewg8922]

@@Wired2Fish I didn't disagree. I was just saying they grow big down here. I'm from the north and I'm aware Florida is a special case. Sorry if you thought I was trying to disagree. Edit: I'm just proud of my State's fisheries.

[@Wired2Fish]

It’s all good. Hard to detect tone in text. Proud of mine too and defending its vulnerability. Good to see big bluegills anywhere you go! Thanks for watching-

[@Soundofwindonsand]

Why does bass fishing Always SUCK after a bass tournament.... Just another mystery

[@bittabrutha31]

A lot of people are taking them way too small!!

[@work_coma559]

Mine

[@johnnyblaze2620]

Too many bait fishermen at the pond lol leave my Bass bait alone!

[@CT9905.]

Over Fishing!

[@TX_TOAST]

I just ate a 9.5" blue gill Never again

[@Wired2Fish]

Live and learn! Thanks for watching CHEKO 1.

[@jaylovell6317]

In Hawaii they don’t want to use “ western based science!

[@adammitchell3462]

I just started this video but I'm gonna go ahead and call it because I witnessed this in my own pond. Inbreeding. I think in smaller fisheries,they over produce themselves to an extent that they inevitably inbreed.

[@dandennison1395]

Yo slick , there not smaller , its just the 80 lb silver carp are bigger and more abundant, get ur helmets 😮

[@halflife352011]

So male feminist fish are sneaking in when the alphas are caught and they are producing weaker smaller offspring.🤔 couldn't help it🙂

[@colsoncustoms8994]

Had the same thought, sneaky beta bluegill 😂

[@Wired2Fish]

Very interesting indeed

[@Jack-t6n2l]

Because your not fishing in the right spot

[@larryyarbrough4668]

L loo

[@skeemask4933]

It's prolly due to people who use these cheating ass fish finders...

[@mr.chaosvicious5968]

More like the people who take 3 or 4, 5 gallon buckets completely full of Bluegill home with them. It should not really be that big of an issue if you only keep 4 or 5 fish at best on the occasional outing but you release all your catches the rest of the time. Lately all the Bluegill we kept (maybe about 3 or 4) would have been released except for the fact that they unfortunately swallowed the hook and we didn't really see them managing to survive being released so we just kept them to not waste the fish and we also retrieved our hooks in the process. Two birds with just one stone.

[@girnucci]

I agree that it's part of it. With the technology now, it's not even fishing. They might as well just go to the market for fresh fish