THE SECOND BEST BLUEGILL

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Jul 13, 1999

Fifty years of second best seems a heavy price for not weighing a potential world record at once.

As usual, A. J. McClane said it best. In his Secret Life of a Bream Specialist, one of his quality columns George Reiger selected in his fine book Fishing With McClane, McClane noted, "It would require supernatural aid to sing the praises of a fish whose rustic charm far exceeds his capacity for prolonged struggle. But when caught on very light tackle, there is a patent of nobility about the bream."

Bluegills, AKA "Bream" aren't bad in the pan either. As McClane continued, "A king might fare no better than on a feast of swamp cabbage, hushpuppies and deep-fried bream . . .. It may be that panfish are strikingly similar in dimensions, coloring and morality, but as the meek inherit the earth, so the bream has inherited the water. He is the most sought, caught, prolific fish in our land."

Given such a democratic fish, willing, even anxious to be caught by even the most undeserving, it's a shame that a mere 2-ounces of bream can make a man so unhappy for so long. Back in 1950, when T.S. Hudson broke Coke McKenzie's 1947 4-pound 10-ounce world record with a 4-pound 12-ounce fish from Mr. McKenzie's favorite fishing hole, McKenzie wasn't happy. In the years since, T.S. Hudson and his fish have long since disappeared. Little is known about Hudson's catch save it bit a worm dangled from a cane pole using the "sneak up" system which McKenzie developed to take fish from the crystal waters of Ketona Lake, a small pond in a Birmingham, Alabama suburb. The pond is posted now by the new owners after several drownings. But kids still sneak in and report two and three pound bluegills.

McKenzie doesn't have to go back. He's got a strong memory, and a mounted fish, to remind him of that long ago April afternoon in 1947 when he set, but lost the record forever. McKenzie fished Ketona Pond, a quarry pond just five minutes from his home, often before or after his shift at the local bolt and rivet company. According to McKenzie, "You could grab some worms, a quill bobber and a cane pole and catch enough bluegill for dinner any day. I usually got 15 to 20 bluegills that went between 3/4-pound and 1 1/2-pound. There were a lot of big bass in the little lake too, but you couldn't catch them very often on bait or lures. After a while, we quit trying for bass. After I discovered 'the trick' for bluegills, they came easy." McKenzie continued, "The trick was really simple. The water in the ponds was all from seepage. There was no runoff. So it was so clear you could see bottom in ten feet, easy. Fish would spook if they saw you. So we rigged with no weight and a quill bobber and crawled up to the edge of the bank."

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