05-07-2006, 10:27 PM
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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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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