So we're driving home from Wisconsin...

Scott O.

Scott O.

Well-known member
...after visiting our son in Madison. We're near the Edgerton exit and I'm hungry since we left early so we pull off and find this place.


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I try the bluegill filets, eggs and hash browns...pretty good, never tried that before


Well over the next seven hours of driving I start to think, "Why haven't I ever tried to paint a fish?" " I LOVE fish!"


So I got home and I did




[inline bluegill2.jpg]


It was a very inspirational breakfast

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View attachment bluegill2.JPG
 
I love fishin' for em, eatin' em, carving em, and painting em. I'd Like to see a place to dine like that around here. Now that's Real FOOD.
 
Nothing is more fun than bluegill fishing with dry flies on really light tackle.


If bluegills came in tuna sizes, the tuna wouldn't be able to hold up a candle to them as far as fight per ounce.
 
Nothing is more fun than bluegill fishing with dry flies on really light tackle.


If bluegills came in tuna sizes, the tuna wouldn't be able to hold up a candle to them as far as fight per ounce.
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Todd, you got that right. Nothing, as my 5 or now, 10 year old grand daughter said, nothing fights as much as a little bluey. Said, blue-ie. Wow, are they fun on any tackle . And, good to eat as well!
 
Andrew -I think it was the Edgerton exit, still learning my way around Wisconsin though

As for bluegill in general, I'm born and raised in Michigan, and believe, like many others that perch and walleye are right up there (I may have to paint them). But truthfully my absolute favorite is bluegill, thru the ice, filleted and baked ( with a lot of butter)

Not sure if anyone noticed my recycling effort...my "canvas" for the fish is made of used pallet boards. I cut out enough good pieces for the painted surface using some less smooth pieces as the backer boards, all glued and screwed together, then I hit it with leftover interior latex. The fish itself is all acrylics.
 
Dry flies are great, but the fish tend to inhale them to deep. I toss back the small ones, and females full of eggs, so I use small poppers when I can. Now when they are taking Alder flies,that's a different story! Blue gills on a Fly Rod is major fun, and a sure way to get new anglers Hooked. For eating, only Crappies beat them.

Spring is right around the corner.......pretty Soon it's Blue Gill & Crappie Time!
 
We don't have bluegill in Maine--I think we may be the only state in the lower 48 that doesn't have them. Somehow pumpkinseeds and redbreast sunfish are not quite so suicidal on small poppers.

But we do have white perch, which may be the finest table fish an ice fisherman can chase. There is nothing quite so good as coldwater perch fillets, dusted with a little cornmeal, pan fried in bacon grease. (Hey, my doctor says at least 2 fish meals per week . . . . .)

PS I just googled "bluegill" to see if I was right that Maine was the only state not to have them yet. I could not confirm that, but those of you from Chicago will be glad to have something else to blame on the Daley clan!

"In some locations where they have been transplanted, they are considered pests: trade in the species is prohibited in Germany and Japan. In the case of Japan, bluegill were presented to the then-crown prince, Akihito in 1960 as a gift by Richard J. Daley, mayor of Chicago. The prince, in turn, donated the fish to fishery research agencies in Japan from which they escaped, becoming an invasive species which has wreaked havoc with native species, specifically in Lake Biwa in Shiga Prefecture. The emperor has since apologized.[5]"​
 
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Dry flies are great, but the fish tend to inhale them to deep. I toss back the small ones, and females full of eggs, so I use small poppers when I can. Now when they are taking Alder flies,that's a different story! Blue gills on a Fly Rod is major fun, and a sure way to get new anglers Hooked. For eating, only Crappies beat them.

Spring is right around the corner.......pretty Soon it's Blue Gill & Crappie Time!


I lump them all together as great eating fish...around here locally, a "crappie" is usually called a "speck" but the little kid in me still thinks its funny when I hear someone say they "took a record-breaking crappie" Geesh
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"That's a good painting Scott, are you gonna hang it outside, or in? It will make a great sign. Thanks for the post."

Not sure about that...I guess I could write some "I Love the Cabin" kind of thing on it but probably not. I'll just leave it out and look at it until my wife says, "Would you please move the fish picture?"
(Thanks for the compliment!)
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I dont target gills through the ice but my vote goes walleye, perch(white/yellow), crappie, gills.

Pickerel/ pike make great fish cakes but that is a lot of work.

Shocking most lakes in the state has shown me what lakes produce insane age classes for panfish. Best job perk ever? I think so.
 
Nothing is more fun than bluegill fishing with dry flies on really light tackle.


If bluegills came in tuna sizes, the tuna wouldn't be able to hold up a candle to them as far as fight per ounce.
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A tuna-sized bluegill is a terrifying though, a fish like that could probably tow a destroyer around!
 
A few years ago I read about a hybrid Giant Blue Gill, being stocked down South, that goes 4-5 lbs. Can you imagine? Forget the 4wt, break out the 7!

Hey Scott - how about "YUM YUM Eatem Up", on the sign.

I bake em all, and they are Delicious. Fried, anything tastes good. I like to taste the fish. Perch are beautiful, fish, but I'll take BG & Crappies, any day over them. A 15 -16 inch Walleye is tough to beat, but ya gotta use streamers.......
 
It is right on Lake Koshkonong, I drive by it a couple of times per month and have never stopped there. Will have to try it next time I am by there.
Is your son a student in Madison?
 
It is right on Lake Koshkonong, I drive by it a couple of times per month and have never stopped there. Will have to try it next time I am by there.
Is your son a student in Madison?
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Oh no...he's a Spartan grad just like his mom and dad, sister, uncles and aunt...we were up there to visit and to go to the MSU vs Wisconsin game...he works for Epic Systems in Verona...very cool place to work
 
That sounds like a pretty unique place. We'll be heading out that general direction late in June to visit my Son and Sister out in South Dakota. I'm not sure if we will come across the place, but I'll watch for it.


I love catching and eating 'Gills as long as they have some size to them. A lot of the ponds and lake around here are stuffed with 4-5 inchers. About all they are good for is "bait" for real fish. I have permission on a couple lakes that have a good population of 9-10 inch fish. Cover up your hand size. Now THAT'S what I'm talking about! Blast to catch, not too bad to clean a bunch and delicious on the table!


There is a restaurant/bar in a nearby town that used to serve Bluegill meals. The supplying pond was owned by the bar owner's father. Dad would catch the fish, son's bar would cook and serve them. Used to be a real popular meal. Then I heard the State boys came in pulled the Bluegill from the menus. Seems like they passed a few laws regarding selling game and sport fish in Ohio. I could be wrong, but if I recall, it all came about after the laws were passed on commercial fishing on Lake Erie.
Jon
 
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