What is the biggest bluegill ever caught?
Daniel Moore
Published Jan 14, 2026
The world record bluegill was caught in 1950 in Ketona Lake, Alabama with a cane pole and common worms. This world record fish measured 15″ long and weighed 4 pounds and 12 oz.
What state has the largest bluegill?
Ketona Lake, Alabama
Hudson's 4lb. 12oz. bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus) holds the AL State Record and the IGFA World Record. This lake, created by a flooded quarry in Birmingham, Alabama, holds the claim to fame for big bluegill fishing.
What is the biggest sunfish ever caught?
The world record weight of a sunfish goes to a specimen from Japan with a total length of 272 centimeters, or about nine feet, who weighed a whopping 2,300 kilograms, or 5,070 pounds.
What is the biggest type of bluegill?
Lake Ketona, a small private lake outside of Birmingham that produced the world record four-pound-twelve-ounce bluegill, is an old limestone quarry with steep sides, almost no water under three feet deep and no cover.
What is a trophy size bluegill?
In this area, bluegills are generally considered trophies if they are at least 10 inches long. Actually, bluegills that hit eight inches are big bruisers, and finding impoundments with sunfish this size makes it worthwhile to break out the ultralight gear.
34 related questions foundWhere can I find big bluegill?
Think Deep
On big water fisheries, some of the largest bluegill and sunfish reside in deep water for all but the spawning period. These trophy fish find sanctuary in the depths. Here they are safe from the parade of panfish anglers tossing worms into the shallows for pint-size fish.
How old is a 3 inch bluegill?
Bluegill normally live about five years if not caught or eaten by larger fish first. They can spawn at about 3 inches long and at one year of age.
Can you have too many bluegill in a pond?
Bluegills are prone to overpopulation. This is accepted knowledge among many anglers. If you don't catch and keep a lot of bluegills out of a pond, you'll often hear a fisherman say, the bluegills will overrun the place. You'll soon have a pond full of runty, stunted fish.
What is the largest crappie ever caught?
It's official, Lionel Ferguson's 5-pound, 7-ounce black crappie is the new IGFA All-Tackle world record! Caught on May 15, 2018 in Richeison Pond, in Loudon County.
What is the largest freshwater fish?
Sturgeon are the largest of the freshwater fish. The beluga sturgeon in Russia is the largest freshwater fish in the world.
What is the largest fish that is not a shark?
The 10 Largest Fish Species Living Today
- Great White Shark.
- Tiger Shark. ...
- Giant Oceanic Manta Ray. ...
- Ocean Sunfish. ...
- Sharptail Mola. ...
- Hoodwinker Sunfish. ...
- Beluga Sturgeon. ...
- Reef Manta Ray. The Manta alfredi is the second biggest species of ray and the tenth biggest fish species living in the world today. ...
What is the biggest fish ever caught?
What Was the Largest Fish Ever Caught? According to IGFA records, the largest fish ever caught was a great white shark that weighed an unbelievable 2,664 pounds (1,208.389 kg.). Caught off the coast of Ceduna, Australia, in 1959, it took angler Alfred Dean just 50 minutes to win the fight against this one-ton shark.
What is a copper nose bluegill?
The Coppernose Bluegill is a subspecies of the common bluegill. It is not a hybrid. Native to Florida and southeast Georgia, it has a range similar to that of the Florida largemouth bass. The coloration of the Coppernose differs from that of the common Bluegill.
What is the biggest perch ever caught?
As of May 2016, the official all tackle world record recognised by the International Game Fish Association (IGFA) stands at 2.9 kg (6 lb 6 oz) for a Finnish fish caught September 4, 2010. Take a look at some of the wildest and most entertaining world records that have been broken in 2020 …
How old is a 8 inch bluegill?
At 1 year of age: Bluegill will likely fall between 4.5 and 6 inches. At 2 years of age: Bluegill will likely fall between 6.5 and 8 inches. At 3 years of age: Bluegill will likely fall between 8 and 8.9 inches. At 4 years of age: Bluegill will likely fall between 8.7 and 9.4 inches.
How long is a 2lb crappie?
White crappie 16 inches will be about 2lb. A 17" fish should be 2lb or better just about anywhere.
What is a good size bluegill?
Given all that information, the best advice is to keep fish greater than 6 or so inches but less than 8. Or in more general terms, keep the mid to large size bluegill but throw back the largest ones you catch. This is best for several reasons.
What is the lifespan of a bluegill?
Life Span – The average bluegill lives from 5 – 6 years. Sport Fishing - The bluegill provide great sport especially when using ultra-light to light tackle. The species also provide a good introduction to angling for kids!
How fast do bluegill multiply?
During one summer, a female bluegill can spawn three times releasing 2,300 to 81,100 eggs per spawn. This rate of reproduction is necessary to maintain adequate bass forage in a balanced bluegill/largemouth bass fishery and is why bluegill are preferred over other sunfish species.
What do bluegill eat in a pond?
Bluegills mostly feed on insects both aquatic and terrestrial. They also eat snails, small crayfish, zooplankton (microscopic animals),other fish and fish eggs. Bluegill are most actively feeding at dawn and dusk when they move into the shallows.
What is the best bait for big bluegill?
The most common baits are worms and night crawlers because they are readily available and bluegill love them. The key is to use only a piece of a worm—just enough to cover the hook. Other productive baits include crickets, grasshoppers, red wrigglers and meal worms. Artificial lures also work well for bluegill.
What is the best time to fish for bluegill?
What is the best time of day to catch bluegills? The best time to catch bluegills is the 2.5-hour window from 4:30 to 7:00 pm usually slowing down an hour prior to sunset. There are some caveats to this rule but it is a great guideline to follow to maximize your time on the water.
Where is the best bluegill fishing?
Top 10 Trophy Bluegill Lakes by In-Fisherman
- Lake Winnipesaukee (NH)
- Lake Okeechobee (FL)
- Kentucky Lake (KY)
- Nelson Lake (WI)
- Lake Delavan (WI)
- Lake Geneva (WI)
- Leech Lake (MN)
- West Okoboji Lake (IA)