[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]I thought the other post about bass was interesting so I thought I would start one about bluegill.
Here’s a list of reservoirs in the SE region that I know currently have bluegill.
Twin Lakes, Condie, Lamont, Winder, Foster, Glendale (small population) and McTucker Ponds. I’m not a fisheries biologist but with excess water this spring I don’t think it is a good if every fishermen takes home a creel full of bluegills. I know bluegill have a tendency to overpopulate so in some of the reservoirs harvest may be helpful. Unless I'm going to cook a few of them for a shore lunch I'll be releasing all of the bluegill I catch in SE Idaho this year. I’ve heard it takes a bluegill from a Preston lake 5 or more years to reach a size that most anglers think is worth keeping (8”).
If anyone knows of any other reservoirs that currently have bluegill in what the F&G call the SE region I would like to know.
I’m especially interested in Johnson and Oxford.
A few years ago I heard a rumor that there were bluegill in Treasureton. Has Treasureton ever had bluegill or largemouth bass?
Has there ever been bluegill in Crowthers, Pleasantview or any of the other reservoirs around Malad?
I know St. John’s had bluegill. It may never support a fishery in the future due to structural problems found on the dam 5 or 6 years ago.
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I am not sure I understand your post. My biggest problem in the past has been with over population. I agree we shouldn't take more then we are going to eat. Johnson did have a population of bluegill. I am not sure about now. Winders bluegill were very small last year. Twin Lakes had great bluegill last year. I couldn't get to Condie because the road was flooded early in the spring. I will be going on a bluegill expedition around Memorial day.
Thanks
Windriver
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I started this thread hoping all of us could learn a little more about places to find bluegill in SE Idaho.
Like I said earlier I’m not a fisheries biologist. I don’t know enough current information about the fish in the reservoirs around Preston to make pefect recommendations. So take what I have written with a grain of salt. I also understand that some of your opinions may be more correct than mine.
I know a majority of the time it is good to keep a lot of bluegill because they tend to over populate. This year we have enough water in the lakes around Preston. This leads me to believe it would be better to practice more catch and release in 2006.
I think Twin Lakes is a good example of a lake that bluegill could be over harvested. It certainly won't hurt (and would even help) if everyone kept a few Twin Lakes bluegill for a meal. I think it would really hurt the little reservoir if a lot fishermen this May/June decide to keep 100+ bluegill that take 5+ years to grow. I’m sure the bluegills in Twin Lakes wouldn’t be as big if it wasn’t for a few guys keeping buckets full of them. I just don’t think it is a good idea for everyone to do it. I’m still going to be friendly with guys that keep a bucket of bluegill. The only things that really bother me as a fishermen are when others break the regulations, someone kills fish they aren’t going to eat and when someone keeps a limit of large bass or large trout from some places. I’m not going to cast stones at anyone because I’m far from perfect myself.
Condie seems to have a good predator/prey balance. I don’t think the bluegill at Condie will over populated in the near future. I would not advocate keeping a bucket full of bluegill from Condie.
I've caught a fair number of Winder bluegills over 7" the last two years. In 2003 & 2004 I think it was good to practice catch and release at Winder because number of bluegill in Winder was nothing compared to what it was in 2001 & 2002. Since 2003, Winder's bluegill population has been on the rebound. It has had high water the last three years during the spawning season and should have high water during this spawning season. I would expect a lot off small bluegill in Winder this spring. Winder is a good example of a reservoir that often has stunted bluegill because of over population. It will likely be benificial to the fishery to keep a bucket full of small bluegill from Winder this year. I'll admit I don't know enough about the current population to say for sure.
Johnson was drained to only a small pool in July 2003. From what I understand all of the fish in Johnson died that summer, even the resilient bluegills. I would be interested in hearing anything current about bluegill in Johnson.
I'm not sure how the bluegill are doing in Lamont. I haven't tried fishing for them the last few years. I think the Bluegill population is still recovering from being drained in 2001(?exact year?). I would guess that it should be good for small bluegills but don't really know.
Foster and Glendale have bluegill but don't ever seem to have the large population that some of the other reservoirs in the area have.
I'll be fishing many of these lakes during the next couple of weeks and probably a fair amount this summer. I don't plan on posting a report for any of the trips unless I find something interesting.
It would be great if someone else knows more about bluegills in some of these waters and is willing to share. Like I said earlier it would be great if someone could post something recent about bluegills in Oxford or Johnson.
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Glendale used to have the largest gills in the state but that's done and gone. Johnson, Condie and Winder and Twin now are my gill choices. I have never seen any in Crowthers though B4 the drain I saw some large bass.
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hpb,
Thanks for the info. Have you caught bluegill out of Johnson from 2004-2006?
It seems like I hear about a nice bluegill caught out of Glendale every year but I have never seen one.
I have never seen bluegill in Crowthers either. I don't think I have ever heard of bluegill in Crowthers.
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I want to go bluegill fishing this weekend, so how about some current info from someone. Have the fish started moving in toward the shore line yet?
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Brian, lots of gill in Johnson- last year was a pretty good year. Haven't picked one up in 2 years out of Glendale.Not sure what has happened there. Crappie and Bass last year but no gills. Nice gills last year out of Condie also.
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Thanks for the information. I will be down there for several days at the end of the month. I will let everyone know what I find.
Good Luck
Windriver
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Thank you everyone for sharing information on this thread.
hpb,
Do you know if there are currently perch in Johnson?
gorfish,
According to the weather forecast, there will be a good warming trend the rest of this week. I'm sure you could find some bluegills this weekend. IMO bluegill fishing will be even better at the end of May and in June.
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Supposedly the F&G gill netted some perch last fall out of Johnson, though I have not picked any up. The Gills are everywhere there now. They used to be concentrated in certain areas but seem to be wipe spread now. There are some decent perch in Fosters. I picked up quite a few last year just before ice up on a black leech.
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There are some really nice perch in Johnson. I have caught some that would push 12" out of there. The problem is that it is hard to keep the bluegill off before the perch and get to it. There are some nice perch in Foster and Winder. There used to be some really big ones in Weston but I haven't caught any for awhile.
C&R
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Thanks for the info. Have you caught perch out of Johnson in the last couple years?
There are still perch in Weston, I've caught a few this last winter. They must not have very good spawning habitat in Weston because they never seem to overpopulate.
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I haven't caught them out of Johnson in the past couple of years. They drained it down really low and I think that might have done them in. I hope they get back in there because they grow really fast and are fun to catch. In Utah if you want bluegill go to Mantua. I can catch them every cast and they are much bigger than the ones in Johnson.
C&R
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Here is an update. I already posted a vague report about fishing Johnson a few days ago. Bluegills that averaged around 5" were easy to come by. I also caught a 6" perch.
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