Shore fishing for bluegills takes on a new shine
MADISON - A warm southwest breeze tickled the water and nudged puffy white clouds across the sky.
A male red-winged blackbird sat atop a cattail, flared its red and yellow epaulettes and trilled a love song.
In the shallows at our feet, more than a dozen dark, saucer-shaped forms finned among the season's first green clumps of aquatic vegetation.
Every so often one of the discs stealthily swam to the surface and sucked in an insect larvae.
The Wisconsin spring had sprung amid unprecedented circumstances in the human world.
But nature was proceeding as normal. And did it ever feel great to be in its midst.
"Yeah, what's not to like," said Brian Settele of Menomonee Falls. "Sun is out and the fish are biting."
As the coronavirus pandemic changed life in Wisconsin and beyond over the last several months, I found myself growing increasingly nostalgic for simple pleasures of my youth.
One of my early-life favorites was shore fishing for bluegills. It's not too much of an exaggeration to say I was raised with a cane pole in my hand at a pond in Racine County.
The thought of some uncomplicated fishing carried extra appeal this year.
Not too mention it could easily accommodate social distancing recommendations.
So as the weather warmed this month and travel restrictions were eased, Settele and I decided to get out and target bluegills from shore.
We chose a channel of Lake Monona in Madison. The shore is easily accessible to anglers and the fish were flocking to the relatively warm water and ample insect and other food sources.
In this pre-spawn period, the bluegills suspended in loose schools in the shallows.
As Settele and I walked down to the shore, the scene looked like a Department of Natural Resources aquarium at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Sports Show.
The shallows were dotted with fish, mostly bluegills. But we also saw largemouth bass, black crappies, northern pike and common carp.
Settele and I spread out and began to fish at the water's edge.
"Well, that's a nice greeting," Settele said as his line grew taut on his second cast.
His rod bent heavily as he reeled in a hefty, broad-shouldered bluegill. Once in hand, it measured 9 inches in length.
The fast action continued over the next two hours. We used tiny jigs or flies suspended below small floats on spinning outfits or a 13-foot telescoping cane pole. The lures were tied to wispy 2pound leaders.
Most of the fish were caught within 20 feet of shore.
No boat, no motor, no electronics. Just a couple of anglers standing a rodslength apart on a Wisconsin shoreline, enjoying a timeless form of fishing in a strange time.
Bluegills are the part of the group of freshwater species called "panfish." They might be relatively small in size, but collectively they play a huge role in freshwater fishing.
In a 2007 Department of Natural Resources survey, anglers reported catching 57.7 million panfish in Wisconsin. And they kept 25.7 million of them.
By comparison, the next most commonly caught group of fish was bass (aggregate of largemouth and smallmouth) at 10.1 million. Less than 500,000 were kept.
So in terms of catch and harvest, panfish are king.
Bluegill growth rates vary by lake size, habitat, predator abundance and water temperature.
Bluegills grow relatively fast in the first 3 to 5 years of life, but once they reach sexual maturity growth slows considerably because some energy diverted to reproduction, according to fisheries biologists.
In Wisconsin, bluegills usually grow to 3 to 5 inches in 3 years and 8 inches in 7-9 years, according to DNR data.
Wisconsin creel surveys have shown anglers have a clear preference for larger panfish, keeping most bluegills longer than 6 inches and most crappies longer than 8.
Fisheries biologists have identified two primary explanations for lakes dominated by small panfish: stunting, in which fish have slow growth rates due to limited resources; and overharvest, in which growth rates might be good but all the large fish are kept by anglers.
And yes, as sure as the earth is round anglers have a profound, negative effect on the size structure of panfish in a lake.
The season is never closed on bluegills and most other panfish in Wisconsin. Angler exploitation rates on larger panfish can be very high, especially in winter and again in spring during spawning time.
So it's important to practice selective harvest if you want a population that includes large panfish.
Although we could have kept 25 bluegills each, Settele and I took home eight apiece. The keepers averaged 7.5 inches in length.
Delicious in taste, low in contaminants and high in nutrition, bluegills are
Eight bluegills caught from a channel of Lake Monona in Madison will make a good meal. Anglers can help improve panfish populations by practicing selective harvest.
excellent table fare.
We released more than 70 fish, including a dozen that were between 8 and 9.5 inches in length.
By late morning the mercury rose to 70; t-shirt weather embraced winterhardened and pandemic-weary Wisconsinites.
Settele and I worked a 75-foot stretch of shoreline, casting to pockets in the aquatic vegetation and to the still-gathering deep-edge of growth.
The freedom to walk and cast and fish, unencumbered by lots of gear, was a special joy. It's possible a smile didn't leave my face for the entire 3-hour outing. Bluegills were interspersed throughout the area. On three occasions a large predator fish slashed through, scattering the bluegills. In minutes they returned.
"I don't think you can't get tired of this, can you?" said Settele after his float disappeared yet again and he lifted his rod to the resistance of another bull bluegill.
Settele, who is a full-time arborist and also runs Fish Chasers Guide Service, knows a thing or two about felling heavy objects and fish that fight.
He agreed that, pound-for-pound, the bluegill can stand in the ring with any fish species.
All that's needed is a simple rod and small jig or baited hook and access to a shoreline; nearly all inland Wisconsin waters host fishable populations of panfish.
And on this day, in this time, the small but mighty bluegill proved more than strong - it provided an angling touchstone to the past that is arguably more valuable today than ever.