Not only are those BGs laying about 8000 eggs, they can do it every 28 days if conditions are right. Where I live in Texas, they start bedding earily Spring and bed through til Spetember or so. Lots of replenishing going on here. I was out last week on the main pond I fish, and there were schools of hundreds of 2-3" BGs near the shore.
millerwb,
Are you saying the same fish can produce that many eggs every month or that a different fish from the mass with ripen each month thru the season?
Inquiring minds…?
Lee,
Here in Ohio, the “major” bluegill spawn is the full moon in early June…the gills will spawn to a lesser degree in the same beds on each full moon throughout the warm months. Forget where I read it, but I did a long time ago. Check out those summer full moons.
Mike
Honestly, no matter the time of the year, or what kind of fish if the population is healthy, or the area is heavily stocked by the state I’ll keep ONE good sized fish for dinner.
Re-read my question and it is terribily stated. 
Meant to ask, Do you mean that every bluegill (female) of the mass will spawn (re-spawn?) each month thru the season…or do you mean that different bluegill of the mass ripen to spawn each month thru the season?
Wow! Now I’m confused too. 
Not sure if it is the same female or different females, but they will be spawning for many months. The main pond I fish, you can see them on beds all summer. I guess I will call my fish biologist friends at the local P&WD and ask them next week and let you know what they say.
Brian
Hey Lee,
While they are capable of spawning
during each of the spawning cycles, it
appears to me that the first spawning
cycle of the year (Late April/Early May
here in SC) is the most prolific one.
Female bluegills mature and start spawning
between 1 and 2 years of age. As has been
mentioned, they spawn around the time of
the full moon, throughout the summer. The
answer to your question I believe is YES,
they are capable of spawning every cycle,
but NO, they do not appear to do so. It
could be though that the warmer waters of
summer have more widely dispersed the fish
and we are just not seeing the concentrations of spring. Warm regards, Jim
I can tell you that the pond that I have observed the most, and fish the most, is about 1 acre so the BGs are not able to disperse very much. It also has caused there to be an overpopulation of small BGs. that is why I keep so many of them. I am hoping that in a year or so, I will begin to see larger fish.
Brian
It depends. I keep the legal creel limit of most fish (panfish, crappie, bass, stripers, carp, etc…) They need to be thinned out and our State Biologists have determined the amount that can be harvested (with a healthy safety margin)and the creel limits are set accordingly. Some waters in this state (Ga.) have special size and creel limits to reflect differences in population and habitat.
Trout are a different story. If I am fishing on Mill Creek, where rainbows are regularly stocked and will die anyway if not harvested (there is no carry-over from year to year. It is marginal trout water), I keep the legal creel limit. If I am on Jack’s River behind my house, on the other hand, where there are huge native Brown Trout, I do catch and release for the most part. It is designated as a Trophy Trout Stream and there are strict slot and creel limits for it, as well as special regulations (artificials only).
I can’t say what would be ethical in other states. The DNR runs the state of Georgia with an iron fist, hence we have beautiful walk-in only streams, forests and pristine lakes. I can’t even have a paved road going to my house (Cohutta Wilderness Area). The only access to my mountain is along an old fire/logging dirt road (Forest Service Road 7). It’s a pain, sometimes. But all in all I’d have to say I really love it here.
[This message has been edited by Gigmaster (edited 03 April 2005).]
Creel limit in Texas on BG is unlimited size and number. LMB is 5 over 14", unless there are special regs for the water you are on.
Personally, I think it’s a misconception to think that just because the fish and wildlife people set a “limit” at a certain number of fish then it’s OK to take that number with the belief that they either want you to take fish or that it’s good to thin the lake out by taking that many. In most of our Oklahoma lakes, the limit for bass, for example, is set statewide with the limit the same for the very prolific lakes in the Eastern part of the state as for the very sparsely populated lakes in the West. I have a good feel for some of these lakes because I tournament fish and because I’m reading the electroshock surveys. Those of us here in the West wouldn’t think of keeping bass from some of these sparsely populated lakes even though the limit is 5. I think a better indication of lakes that the fish and wildlife people actually want you to keep fish from is where they set a slot limit. Those are lakes that normally have a disproportionately large number of small, maybe stunted fish and they want you to keep the fish under the “slot”. The limits set by the wildlife department are done for many reasons some of which are convenience, to prevent confusion as to different limits on different lakes and to simply keep people happy who just like to keep fish. So, I encourage you to consider the population of your lake before keeping fish and not just rely on the wildlife people to take care of things. If you fish the lake on a regular basis, you may know more about the condition of the lake than they do. Use your own good judgment.