How to catch large 'gills where not many exist

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Permalink Reply by Michael Burchfield on February 9, 2010 at 3:14pm

It's a 24 acre lake (I'm surprised they call it a lake, it's so small), so im not sure if i can clear out some excess gills

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Permalink Reply by Johnny wilkins on February 10, 2010 at 9:27am

Is this your pond and are there limits in OH on bluegills.
Let's just say I could travel there for 2 days this Spring.

Do you have some friends that could help and some funding?
I can remove fish from that lake and show you how to do it. Once you learn, you can remove a couple hundred at a time, but we will put back the big bull gills.

Can you transport these somewhere? Is there another lake or river to put them in. Is there a farm to use them for fertilizer. Can you find someone who would like to make fish cakes from them. Chinese or Hmung.

If interested and we can fund it, I will lower the water in your pond by removing a couple thousand on that weekend and you can continue the process and let us know the results of your attempt. There would be some expenses, you would probably want some tackle and there would be a decent sized bait bill.

Let me know if you are interested I think you are about 4 hours from my house.

John

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Permalink Reply by Walt Foreman on February 10, 2010 at 9:58am

Removing a bunch of bluegill, even thousands (which is not as easy as it sounds with smaller fish, as they'll often just steal the bait unless you use a very small hook, #12 or #14 or smaller), will not do much if anything to fix the problem long-term unless predators are stocked. The lake likely has very few if any remaining predators, and if that's the case, removing a bunch of bluegill will just elicit increased spawning from the remaining bluegill - very shortly the lake will be back to the state it's in now. Upping the predator numbers is the only way to make a long-term difference in the size of the bluegill in that lake.

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Permalink Reply by Johnny wilkins on February 10, 2010 at 10:26am

I only use 14 or 16 hooks, I think you are partially right that it could return to its former state. If you can catch some bass and transport them to this pond, that would seal the deal.

Size doesn't matter. In Portugal, I fished .75 lb. test line and size 24 hook with a single midge fly larvae (blood worm) on a 42 foot pole with no reel. I love the challenge and would love to try and lower the water in that pond by catching bag loads. Bring it on! You would agree, that if we remove enough early in Spring, there will be more food for the rest of them.

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Permalink Reply by Josh Milczski (Omaha) on February 10, 2010 at 11:35am

I would like to see this 42 foot pole in action.

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Permalink Reply by Johnny wilkins on February 10, 2010 at 12:09pm

Side note on that pole, I prefer the 8-foot version for speed fishing. If I had to catch gills at 42 foot - I would need help from Mark McGwire's supplier.

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Permalink Reply by Johnny wilkins on February 10, 2010 at 12:27pm

Here is a picture of the pole:

Click on the photo for the full size view.

It's a long, modern cane pole. The pole's advantage over a rod & reel is that you can reach out and hold the float against wind movement, current and other forces to present a still bait. The movement of your bait sitting still in front of a fish is the key. Side-to-side or rotational movement of the bait can reduce strikes dramatically if not completely. The bait itself, should be wiggling, not flying past unnaturally.

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Permalink Reply by Josh Milczski (Omaha) on February 10, 2010 at 12:33pm

That is wild! Very cool. Do you have a video?

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Permalink Reply by Johnny wilkins on February 10, 2010 at 12:58pm

I will be making videos coming up this Spring and will include a segment on fishing this.
While not for everyone- this method destroys All other methods for catching the largest weight of fish in our 4 - hour competitions. It's smaller cousin, the telescopic pole in 8,12, 18 foot versions is the fastest and most consistent. All of you have me very excited for Spring. I can't wait.

Permalink Reply by Michael Burchfield on February 10, 2010 at 2:16pm

It isn't my pond. It's owned by the Olander Park System (Olander being the name of the pond). I do not believe they would make any exceptions for removing the fish, besides angling. I checked the ohio department of natural resources website (ohiodnr.com), and didn't see a limit on bluegill.

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Permalink Reply by Walt Foreman on February 10, 2010 at 2:44pm

That's cool about your match fishing tactics, John - I read a couple articles about those techniques years ago, even ordered a twelve-foot match fishing rod from England to go with the twelve-foot crappie rod I already had from Cabela's. I also bought some Thill competition floats, though they ended up not being as well suited for the kind of fishing I do in which the float is usually the sole weight for casting but still has to be sensitive enough to not be detected by big bluegill, with the added caveat that the presentation I favor requires no weight on the line; Thill's regular balsa float (the thinnest one) works better for me. I also bought some plastic feeders that attach on the end of the line and release a mush sort of feed, but that ended up not working well for me.

I just made an eight-foot spinning rod for bluegill on a 5-weight fiberglass (Lamiglass) fly rod blank. I used to make these years ago but this is the first one I've made in a long time - looking forward to breaking it in this spring.

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Permalink Reply by Johnny wilkins on February 11, 2010 at 1:40pm

You are onto it if you still have that twelve foot match rod. That should be very nice and stiff all the way up the blank.
The float is casted but the weights are what propels the float. They fly in front of the float on the way out.
I am sure the articles didn't feature enough information for you to properly fish these. Trust me, I have been reading them for 8 years now.
Also good news - those Thill competition floats you purchased are primitive compared to what I will be selling.
I know what you mean by fishing no weight. It is the best way to fish! Natural baits fall slowly in the water. If you are willing to give it a go, I will give you a great near - weightless setup that kills.

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