FishProfiles.com Message Forums

Heres a large one. I used to catch these as a kid and they averaged about 7-8 inches



firecontrol attached this image:

that "real deal" stated at over a foot long is a state record. as an avid fisherman who has pulled literally hundreds of these out of lakes with a fly rod i can tell you without a doubt that 6-8" is a much more common "max" size, their teeth are no big deal, i often handle them by the mouth just like you would a bass, the bigger danger is with their top fin which is very spiny (idea is to run your hand over him as if to pet him, thereby pushing it down). if you wanted to catch some smaller ones just use a tiny fly, you could pull 5 out in under 30 minutes if you can cast over their nesting areas. all that said they like to nest so a typical 55gal might not be the ideal width, a gravel mixed with sand substrate would probably be best for said nest and of course they're pretty aggresive. I see no reason at all why you cant keep them if you have the right tank(heck ive heard of people keeping large/small mouth bass in tanks but that's an entirely different arguement, one that would be funny to hear people bicker about their max size on too lol).

Ok yeah , I was wrong on the size- faked photo, but heres the real deal stated at over a foot long.

http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/wildlife/Fishing/aquanotes-fishid/bluegill.htm

Ok the reason you should not return a fish to a lake after catching it and keeping it for a year or two is simple- during the fish's period in captivity it might catch disease and parasites from feeder items and cagemates, these might not be of the same origin as the waters the fish is from, and you might be putting a diseased fish back into a river which could spread to either the same species or others in that river effectively wiping them out.They would have no evolutionary experience of , or resistance to the new disease or parasite .In most states you will find that it contravenes local enviromental law in any case. In addition even a previously wild fish displaced by its captivity might find that it is outcompeted for territory or picked off by a predator when returned to the lake before it has a chance to re-establish itself .Obviously this makes releasing the fish fairly pointless as it would probably die anyway.To you it might seem a tough, aggressive, and fit fish, but in reality it might stand no more chance than a guppy in a pirahna tank.

If you take a fish from the water and keep it for more than a few weeks you will basically be taking on the responsibilty of keeping it for good.

Last edited by longhairedgit at 04-Oct-2005 19:03

Maybe it was what your calling a pumpkinseed that we had in the tank. A bunch of them were eating around the rocks at the edge of the pond so we scooped one out. It was only a few inches long so we put it in the 20g tank to see what it was like. It definitely had teeth and was very agressive. So agressive it went back to the pond within the week.

I have caught some pumkinseeds that are 10-11"s when I was in boy scouts. Lets just say that they have some teeth!!

As for keeping a bluegill you could do so given the space. They do not need a huge amount but the more is always the better with most fish. I like to give fish the most room I posibly can for their size.

I used to have three 3-4" Gils in a 55 gal. with a warmouth about the same size. The gils started to really mess with each other so I put them back and kept just the warmouth. Right now he seems to be doing just fine hanging with my crayfish. I did some record catch checking on the warmouth and the biggest catch was around 10"s. I figgured for one fish in a 55 gal thats not too bad.

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Male longears and dollars are pretty hot around coldwater circles, and are quite closely related to the orange spot, to the point where they are often misidentified. I have/had (pond water is too murky to tell for sure, and none of the suns come up for feeding time) one longear (female with several redbreasts and a young greenie.

Pumpkinseeds, though I have never kept them due to aggression issues (the guapotes of sunfish), are usually listed as a medium sized lepomis, maxing out at 10", if not a bit more. They are far rowdier than your conventional bluegill.

*gets out ichtyology lab manual*

Bluegill are Lepomis macrochirus. Family Centrarchidae (sunfishes), Order Perciformes.

Another thing that makes the fish in that photo look big is the angler is holding it a lot closer to the camera... common trick.

Last edited by superlion at 03-Oct-2005 17:58

><>

Do I take it that by 'Bluegill' people here are referring to the fish known in European aquatic circles as the Pumpkinseed, i.e., Lepomis gibbosus?

They're regarded as being among the larger Sunfishes among those European aquarists specialising in North American natives (which are surprisingly popular in Germany) but adult size is usually quoted as around 8 inches, making them about as demanding on aquarium space as a Dempsey.

By the way, I wrote a piece on the Orange Spotted Sunfish, Lepomis humilis, a while back after being utterly stunned by a photo of this fish, which is a North American Native whose colours - at least in the photo I've seen - are on a par with Mbuna! Anyone here kept one of these beauties? I know that they're next to impossible to find here in the UK, and that once again, chances are I'd need to travel to Germany to pick one up, at vast cost as this is another of those North American specialities that the Germans prize very highly indeed. Any of the Stateside Board members kept this fish?


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Firey, the reason the fish in your pic is so large is because it's a reddy; a redear sun, regularly growing up to 15".

Bluegills are hardy, common fish. no heater is required, unless you plan to facilitate breeding. Furthermore, blues are amongst the most common of lepomids, and thus, I would highly doubt there would be any ishing restictions on them. Large specimens need at least a 125 to grow well. I suggest, if you're looking into sunfish, to venture into smaller species (though availability may be an issue). Well conditioned bluespots are truly beautiful, and fit for life in a 55.

Last edited by Cup_of_Lifenoodles at 03-Oct-2005 16:35

I also forgot to mention, why cant you release them back where you got them(if an appropriate time of year) if and when they are getting too large for your size of an aquarium?

72 gallon bowfront:Tanganyikan Lake set up
75 gallon: A. Baenschi trio,Cyanotilapia Afra Cobwe(4), copadichromis trewavase, protomelas sp. tangerine tiger(breeding pair)

Could it be possible to have a blue gill in an aquarium.

Ok first things first
My fiancees dad has blue gills and 1 crappie in a 6' long aquarium i think it is 125 gallons. there are 5 blue gills, 1 crappie, a clown loach(dont ask why cause i dont know) 4 small plecos of some kind, i think they are clown plecos, and a river cat, of which i dont know what it is. This is being successfully done! the blue gills are happy and striving, fed once a day, super colorful. They dont need hundreds and hundreds of gallons to survive. Go to a local lake and check out the blue gills there. Millions can be in one lake alone. They dont take up that room, and on the plus side, they dont need heaters to survive!

72 gallon bowfront:Tanganyikan Lake set up
75 gallon: A. Baenschi trio,Cyanotilapia Afra Cobwe(4), copadichromis trewavase, protomelas sp. tangerine tiger(breeding pair)

Ummm, not quite 3 foot long. Actually, the average length of an adult bluegill is about eight inches although I'm sure there are a few monsters out there that will top a foot. Still, they'll make a fine meal outta anything in you tank.

There may, however, be laws against it in your area

Can't stress that enough...

Seen a few bluegills on angler photos too, some of the biggies are nearly 3 foot long, and very chunky with huge mouths.They could probably swallow a 1 foot fish!

I had a baby bluegill in a tank for a few weeks and on top of the size they are fairly agressive and quite predatory. It's behavior reminded me of the more agressive cichlids I kept for awhile. The bluegill was returned to his pond because even without knowing his size I knew he was not a fish I wanted to try to keep.

I was thinking it would be cool to keep bluegill in an aquarium myself... until I saw the ones at Cabela's - over a foot long! And not thin either. I didn't believe they were bluegill until I realized that was the only thing they could be. So yes, bluegill can get HUGE.

><>

Yes, you would need a very large tank, as they get quite large. There may, however, be laws against it in your area so you would need to check that out. And it is a predatory fish that would make a nice meal of whatever else was in the tank.

Not exactly tank fish as has been pointed out .


They get large and they're quite active, so with large enough tank (few hundreds of gallons) it would work....that or take up scuba diving ! One of the lakes I dive at quite frequently has lots of blue gill :%).

^_^

[hr width='90%']"in any case, chocolate is hardly a rare comodity." said Chaos. "There are planets covered in the stuff"
REALLY?
"Indeed."
IT MIGHT BE BEST, said Death, IF NEWS LIKE THAT DID NOT GET ABOUT. ~ Theif of Time [link=Terry Pratchett]http://www.terrypratchettbooks.com/" style="COLOR: #EB4288[/link]

Well yes, but bluegills get pretty huge, you need some serious cash and a tank over 100 gal for an adult. You shouldnt go catch a live one from a lake or river and then put it back when it grows up, it could disease the other fish . It will probably eat most other fish youd put it in with too. Probably not a good idea for a beginner.