Probably the very first fish we caught as a kid was a 'gill while using a cane pole or a Zebco push-button spincast outfit.

Even veteran anglers agree that, ounce-for-ounce, a bluegill has more power and tenacity than just about anything that swims in either fresh or saltwater.

But, alas, we've become so blase while pursuing more "glamorous" targets that we fail to give this rugged little gamester the respect it so richly deserves.

With rapid growth experiments now in progress at the Tenoroc and the Webb Fish Management Areas, Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission (GFC) biologists hope to change a perception that bluegills are fishdom's second-class citizens.

Biologists Wes Fish and Danon Moxley are concentrating on growing big blues in Tenoroc's Derby, Cemetery and Hydrilla lakes, all of which are reclaimed phosphate pits near Lakeland.

On a parallel course in Charlotte County, another GFC fisheries biologist, Tom Champeau, is attempting to create a quality bluegill fishery at three 15-acre ponds in the Webb Area.

An axiom saying that "great minds run in the same channel" applies to experiments at both Tenoroc and Webb in that everybody involved concludes aeration, good water quality, plenty of oxygen content, a solid predator base and a supplemental feeding program will all combine to produce banner bluegill crops.

At Tenoroc, some answers to growing big bluegills were discovered somewhat by accident.

According to Fish and Moxley, a management emphasis had been placed on sunshine bass.

"Initially," said Moxley, "the sunshine experiments looked good, but, for some reason, they tapered off." During the sunshine experiments, however, a bluegill population erupted. "This was due to all the measures we were taking, combined with heavy concentrations of such predator fish as largemouth bass, sunshine bass, channel and blue catfish which kept the exploding bluegill numbers in check by feeding on one to four-inchers," they said.

At the Webb area, Champeau agrees that supplemental feeding programs and a heavy predator base are important keys to bluegill growth.

"We've recently stocked bass, snook and mudfish into the mix to take a surplus of our three to four-inch bluegills." "Next year," he added, "we'll probably add catfish."

Because the Webb ponds are infertile, Champeau is also fertilizing the three water bodies in order to increase nutrient counts.

As of July 1, lowered bag limits and increased minimum size limits went into effect. In two ponds, the GFC has established a 20-fish bag with an eight-inch minimum size regulation, while the third limits anglers to five blues, which must measure at least 12 inches.

To make the Webb ponds more "angler friendly," biologists are now improving bank access and soon plan to construct fingers.

These Webb procedures already have resulted in quite a number of 10-inch bluegills, plus a few measuring in excess of 11 inches.

Even though the "book isn't closed" on using other feed formulas, the biologists currently are using Catfish Chow #5141, which, seemingly works best in a supplemental diet for bluegills, although a new, improved form of trout feed may be on the horizon.

Scientists at the Ralston Purina Company, a leading maker of commercial fish rations, concluded as far back as 1973, that bluegills, as well as other sport fish, require balanced rations for optimum growth.

Another pioneer, the late Leo Pachner, publisher of Farm Pond Harvest Magazine and an inductee into the International Fishing Hall of Fame, learned that it was practical to feed fish in both small ponds and large lakes.

"Bluegills establish a home territory and individuals range only over an area of about 70 yards from their home base," said Pachner.

"This homer instinct, which is inherent in most wildlife, makes it practical to feed fish."

"Once a feeding routine is established, the same fish return day after day to the same location thus rewarding anglers with bigger fish and more productive harvests at or near feeding stations."

Ralston Purina learned long ago that a typical feed conversion ratio for cattle was four pounds of feed per pound of gain, while swine convert feed to pork at a 3:1 rate.

"Fish can convert feed to meat at a 1 to 1 ratio which makes fish our most economical source of edible meat," Thomas concluded.

In most places throughout Florida, an average bluegill will measure five to six inches in length. At Tenoroc and Webb, biologists are already seeing a large percentage of 'gills between eight and 12 inches which seems to be proof positive they're doing something right.

NOTE: Photos are by Stan Kirkland. Newpaper-quality photos can be downloaded directly from the higher resolution image by clicking the small photo and then saving the larger photo. For enlarged magazine-quality photos please email Bob Wattendorf.