In contrast, Maryland’s Deep Creek Lake is a 3,900-acre mountaintop resort and vacation spot in the western part of the state that gets 20 inches of ice during most winters. Unlike the placid tidewater lakes, Deep Creek is almost impossible to fish from Memorial Day through Labor Day due to heavy recreational boat traffic. Even so, early morning trips yield big ’gills from the many boat docks throughout the reservoir. Hundreds of bluegills over 10 inches are taken each year. The current state record, an astounding 3-pound, 7-ounce fish, was caught in August of 1998 under a dock by 13-year-old Sarah Brenahan. It was 13 inches long with a girth of 171⁄2 inches.
Deep Creek Lake has many weedy coves and shallow bays for spawning. Some big bluegills spawn deep—15 to 20 feet—in the ultraclear portions of the lower lake. State biologists cannot explain why, with a relatively short growing season, Deep Creek’s bluegills get so big. Here, too, species such as smallmouths, largemouths, trout, and walleye draw the bulk of angling attention. Maryland’s statewide 15-fish daily limit on bluegills helps maintain this amazing fishery.
Home-Grown Hawgs
While Nebraska has Pelican Lake and, in California, several San Diego-area reservoirs regularly yield trophy ’gills, not every state has public fisheries that cough up powerhouse panfish. More often, you find trophy bluegill options in the form of pits and ponds and small public lakes.
Look for ponds with suitable spawning substrate, along with dense largemouth bass populations that prey on abundant small bluegills, thinning their numbers and maintaining good bluegill growth-rates. Most of these ponds have extensive areas of shallow water (3 to 5 feet) and a deeper area near the dam that may run from 10 to 15 feet. Although attractive to anglers, shoreline brush, trees, and weedbeds are not critical in small bluegill lakes. Many memorable catches have been made from the mowed banks of ponds in someone’s backyard.
In some areas, small waters are all that’s available. Delaware manages 35 millponds for public fishing that range from 8-acre Tussock Pond to 189-acre Lums Pond, the largest impoundment in the state. Despite their size, Delaware ponds produce world-class panfish, including a 2-pound 10-ounce bluegill and a 3-pound 1-ounce redear sunfish from Diamond Pond, both caught in 1998.
Most of these ponds average 4 feet or less, with deep water being 7 to 10 feet near the dams. Their tannic water lends a Deep South appearance, and a variety of vegetation chokes some areas in summer. As elsewhere, largemouths are the money fish, even in this land of little lakes. Bluegills grow big in many of the ponds as untapped populations of 10-inchers go mostly unnoticed—another case of high-quality bluegilling that exists nationwide in small, public lakes.
Prime Times for Trophies
Although a giant can turn up at any time, I’ve found that two Calendar Periods consistently outproduce the Spawn Period for trophy fish. They are the Prespawn Period, with water temperature from 55°F to 65°F, and the Coldwater Period of midwinter, when water temperatures stay below 42°F. The Spawn Period is my third choice.
