Trophy Gilling
An early morning snowmobile ride to a trophy bluegill lake had me pumped. At minus ten below, it was a little cool out but little did I think that full face protection would be needed. It wasn’t that far. Well, yeah. Little did I think. I should have known better. Luckily the Bearcat had a high windshield and provided me a little shelter from the wind. I did, however, have to keep peeking over it, as it was crusted over with frozen road debris and hard to see.
The ride, which approached unbearable, ended with us reaching our little back-in-the-bush honey hole and I could feel the pain. No frostbite was experienced but I had to be pushing it. Oh the lengths we go to catch big bluegills.
Out on the lake, we found fishing to be slow but every once in a while a hefty specimen would make an appearance.
Fussy fishing, with not many being caught, always gives a guy time to reflect and do a little daydreaming. I thought how lucky we were to be practically surrounded by trophy bluegill waters. It seems there is no shortage of lakes that offer a chance at a 10″ fish, the benchmark for bluegill bragging rights.
For my crew, these big fish are quickly placed in front of a camera and then released back to where they came from. My how times have changed, for me and most everyone else out there.
I recall the summer days of stumbling across a hoard of hungry gills and stringing them up as fast as one could catch them. They weren’t even measured back then, although some may have been admired for a minute or so before being added to the collection. Almost never photographed and rarely mounted, they were only brought home for dinner. How sad.
One time we had so many big bluegills on a stringer that the weight from the fish above would shear the lips open on the ones below, making them fall to the ground. We weren’t over our limit but more than likely right on it. Again with the sad thing. It’s just the way it was decades ago and I’ll plead ignorance on this one.
Thankfully In-Fisherman, along with Muskies Inc., came along promoting the catch and release theory. My goodness, with today’s technology there would be nothing left. Instead, we are blessed to have some of the best fishing ever.
Get out there and enjoy the great outdoors and if you happen across a hungry bunch of big bluegills, get a few photos of the trophies and let them swim. It’s a good feeling. Trust me.
Written By HSM Pro Greg Clusaiu