Do you keep bluegill or throw them back?

l can not understand how any so-called sportsman could kill them and throw them back, wasting a precious resource.

lf l can get a mess of 'em, l'll sure take 'em home and fry their little butts up. much better eating than bass and even stocked trout. only crappie l like better.

lf l don't care to keep them, l still release them gently.

there are always other people to catch and keep them.

and if your pond is full of small bluegills, it's not their fault. it's YOUR fault with improper pond management. you have undoubtedly caught and eaten all of their potential predators and this has allowed them to run rampant.

a 10 inch bass will eat a lot of undersized bluegills.

and bluegill do not spawn monthly.

l sure never expected this question to get this much attention and controversy.

Bluegill will breed about twice a summer up North and every full moon in summer down South. If it's a large lake I'll toss them back to feed the bass and catfish. If it's a small pond and I keep catching little ones I kill them and toss them ashore for the critters and birds. Too many 'gill in a small body of water stunts their growth. Small ones filleted and quickly fried make what I call Bluegill Chips. One bite and delicious with a cold beer.

Jesus, a five to eight inch bluegill is considered big? Damn, you people HAVE GOT TO fish Lake Casitas! There is no such thing as a "small" bluegill, redear or crappie in this lake. Biggest bluegill out of there is 3 3/4 pounds. Biggest redear is almost 4 1/2 pounds. Biggest crappie is at least an even four pounds.

Anyway, I keep them as long as I catch enough to feed a household. At least two a piece. Ten fish total at most. I keep them in a floating fish basket and if I only catch one or two, I let them go.

And why kill them just to kill them?

So many bluegills in Lake Wilson, I keep four of the larger ones (about 5-6 inches) and release the rest.

Give them more time to grow-- then I can keep them the next time.

I throw them back, along with every other fish I catch. I'm not a big fish eater, however the occasional Bluegill/Crappie is good. I only took home one fish this year, a Crappie.

I keep them if they are over eight inches. The lake where I fish needs to increase the bluegill, and they have to be about six inches long before they lay eggs, I throw back the smaller ones and only keep the real good ones.

Don't ever throw a bluegill back in front of me....if it's not big enough to eat, the coons, mink and other vermin can have them. There are only a few "farm ponds" where the population is stable enough to throw them back.

I only keep good sized ones because they're good for eating. I'll let the little ones go to grow some more and because I've found immature ones don't taste as well as others. You should always put small ones back so then you can catch them again some other day. Good luck fishin'!

There is a pond called valco ponds in pueblo,co that has alot of warm water fish including bluegill. I have caught alot of them there include a 11 incher . However they taste nasty and they are pest so I just kill them and throw them back.

A good sized Blue Gill is one of my favorite fish to eat.