Thread: Looking for Shell Crackers pointers

Shellcracker guys are much more secretive than crappie folks ever thought about being. Look in major coves that have sandy bottoms with creeks running into the main bay. Shellcrackers will be deeper than bluegills most of the time even though I have caught some good ones fishing buck bushes with crickets in very shallow water. Most of the time the shellcrackers will be where your boat would normally be when you are fishing a bluegill bed.

Hope that helps. That's all I'm telling. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!!

I accidentally got into the shellcrackers a few years ago. I was fishing night crawlers for anything that would bite. When I started to run low on the crawlers I pinced about 3/4' off and fished with that. They ate the pieces better than they did the whole worm. I would use these pieces around an old, slick log in water with a rock bottom. I eventually decided the piece of nightcrawler resembled the meat these fish ate out of the small shells they cracked. This pattern held up all afternnon, I would catch 2 or 3 from one old slick log(not brush) and go find another one and do the same. I'm mainly a crappie fisherman but that was a day I will always remember. It was in May and I was fishing LBL. 4'-10' deep,no floater, small splitshot.

split shot, #8 hook, leech.

Go to yahoo and type in shellcracker.I cant remember which one but an article that explain's in detail about cracker's.It's one of the first 6 that come's up though.

They like the bait moving slow and on or near the bottom.

Last year we decided we wanted to target shellcrackers, we read everything we could find online, we picked several lakes listed on the KDFW website that were good shellcracker lakes and we went to fishin'. What we learned and what worked for us was drift fishing back off the banks just like mrdux said. About where your boat would be if you were fishing the bluegill beds is where you want your bait. We use 4lb test line with the long cricket hooks with a splitshot 6-8 in above the hook, with red worms for the bait, this is what we found worked best for us. We just drift off the banks with the wind or trolling motor assisting, bouncing the bait off the bottom or maintaining the bait very near to the bottom. We were amazed at our success as we had never caught shellcrackers except by accident before. Needless to say, we are hooked on shellcrackers just as bad as crappie now. I've never fished for them down your way, although I would love to give it a try someday. Good luck and good fishin'.

What a PIG of a shellcracker you got there minnerdipper!!

Originally Posted by MinnerDipper2

Last year we decided we wanted to target shellcrackers, we read everything we could find online, we picked several lakes listed on the KDFW website that were good shellcracker lakes and we went to fishin'. What we learned and what worked for us was drift fishing back off the banks just like mrdux said. About where your boat would be if you were fishing the bluegill beds is where you want your bait. We use 4lb test line with the long cricket hooks with a splitshot 6-8 in above the hook, with red worms for the bait, this is what we found worked best for us. We just drift off the banks with the wind or trolling motor assisting, bouncing the bait off the bottom or maintaining the bait very near to the bottom. We were amazed at our success as we had never caught shellcrackers except by accident before. Needless to say, we are hooked on shellcrackers just as bad as crappie now. I've never fished for them down your way, although I would love to give it a try someday. Good luck and good fishin'.

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Minner,
Where you bouncing the bottom directly under the boat or casting out and working bait back to the boat (like a bass fisherman fishes a plastic worm)?