# When selecting gills to eat...



## itsbrad (Jun 13, 2005)

Do you go by length or girth/weight? I have a pond(well a relatives) that has an overabundance of them and I figure I might as well eat some of them to get some numbers down. So should I go by inches or girth/weight?


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## madcrappiekids (Mar 11, 2006)

Bigger is always better to clean, I prefer the nice thick ones, but I think they all tast good. Let me know if you need any help with them


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## icehuntR (Dec 18, 2005)

I go 7" & bigger for gills.Try not to harvest too many big ones.That depends on how big they get in that pond though.The Rose brushes like gills to! Good fishin"!!! Let me clarify, I am not suggesting using 6" or bigger gills as fertilizer.I was/am refering to overpopulated bodys of water with too many small/stunted gills. MasterAngler has the correct info for bigger fish. 

Roses Rock! 
The Alpaca Kid


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## Guest (Apr 25, 2006)

> The Rose brushes like gills to!


 People wonder why I get mad.


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## Master Angler (May 26, 2004)

If you are trying to get numbers down do not keep any 8" or bigger. 99% of people harvest gills/ panfish incorrectly. If you keep 6-8" fish you can have decent fillets and actually help. Keeping bulls 8"+ only serves to worsen overpopulation and stunting. Almost all female gills are under 8", most under 7" and these are the ones you want to keep. Bass will keep the numbers of <6" fish down.


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## BigChessie (Mar 12, 2005)

Keep the smaller ones, scale them and then fry the whole thing. Nothing better than some gill tail to munch on. That way you remove them and eat them so nothing goes to waste.


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## jeffmo (Apr 7, 2004)

if the pond has a high population of small gills then remove those.we use to simply toss them on the banks of ponds.the turtles and birds enjoyed them.and yes,they would make the rose grow better.if you want your pond to have a population of good eater sized gills keep taking out those small ones.


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## devildog (Jan 2, 2005)

I know alot of people don't like to hear about just killing fish, but you really have to manage a body of water. especially a small pond. Keep the small ones and eat them, they taste just as good as the big ones. Last week on espn2 there was a show all about this subject. It was actually ray scott talking about keeping the right balance in a body of water. Too many little fish and the whole system can get out of wack. I personally am no expert on this subject but I'm sure you could do some searching on the net for pond management and get some good answers.


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## itsbrad (Jun 13, 2005)

Ok, well I kepts anything between 7 and 8". I wasnt sure on the 6" fish they just looked so darn small lol!


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## Master Angler (May 26, 2004)

The 6-7"ers might seem small but you can get a decent fillet and will be keeping more females. The bigger bulls 8"+ emit pheromones that keep the smaller males from becoming mature and spawning. Once they become mature their growth rates drop dramatically. Also, remember that a 9" gill is probably 9 yrs old so it really does hurt the fishery to keep/ overharvest the bigger bulls. Ideally what you want is high growth rates and high harvest of fish under 8". That way you get lots of fillet sized fish and a trophy fishery as well.


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## ostbucks98 (Apr 14, 2004)

I fished a private impoundment once that had like 25 ponds.Every pond had 4 signs that said releasing bluegills back into the water after catching them was grounds to be kicked off the property,lol.Im mainly a catch and release guy so I was caught in a tough spot.If I did happen to catch a gill I would "accidently" drop it on the ground about 1 foot from the water and hope it kicked its way back in.


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## Fishin'Fool (May 4, 2006)

Check this out.

http://www.ohiodnr.com/wildlife/fishing/pond/managementoptions.htm


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## jsalkas (Feb 18, 2005)

Neat link. I hadn't seen that before.


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