Shellcrackers and one lone crappie 5/07/2018

There I wuz, left alone when my wonderful wife decided that she didn't want to get up and go cracker fishing before the sun came up. She did get up and take me to the lake and drop me off and went back home to bed. Grin.

I hit an old standby cracker bed and caught a few nice sized ones early. After the sun came up, the fish slowed down, so I decided to look in different places for them. I managed to catch one more shellie in an old bed that I haven't fished in years. Also caught some nice sized bluegills in there too. Eventually, I ended back up on the first spot only to find another boat had moved in on the beds. I spoke to the man and wife/girlfriend and stayed clear of where they wanted to fish. I eased back out and caught two more very nice sized crackers on the original spot. I saw several more fish on the beds, but when I hooked the 2nd fish, it spooked all the rest off the beds.

I decided then to check one or two spots for crappie. They were no shows at the two spots that I tried. By this time, it is 10ish or so and I called Wanda and told here that I would be within eyesight of the ramp at Tyner Lane. We live about 3/4 of a mile from the ramp, so I had time for 4 or 5 casts on some deep brush that we put out years ago. I had a couple of nibbles from fish on the first two casts, but they were not taking the bait. So, I put some powerbait on the jig and caught a 9" crappie on the next cast. I had time for one more cast and this fish turned out to be a 15.25" White crappie (tarp sized). I measured it and took a couple of pics. Looked at the ramp which was about 1/4 mile away and saw Wanda backing the trailer down the ramp. So I hightailed it to the ramp. I released the crappie. I normally don't keep TARP sized crappie unless they are mortally wounded.

I'm going to do some kind of fishing in the morning. I just haven't decided what to do yet. Grin.

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Another stellar report!

Nice report, Drumking!! It's surprising you are finding those shellcrackers on bed with the moon in its current phase. I live here at Barkley and I've struggled to find any shellcracker. It seems they nest on the new moon and on the full moon.

Are you surprised to see them on beds right now??

Great report ! As always nice pics.! those fish are spooky here also And some want bite looking for it to get better in 3-4 days!

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Originally Posted by redearhoosier

Nice report, Drumking!! It's surprising you are finding those shellcrackers on bed with the moon in its current phase. I live here at Barkley and I've struggled to find any shellcracker. It seems they nest on the new moon and on the full moon.

Are you surprised to see them on beds right now??

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Yes, redearhoosier, I am very surprised to find the crackers on beds with the the new moon phase 9 days away and we are a week past the full moon. This is the first time in my old memory that I have found them on beds with this waning 1/2 moon phase. I just checked these beds about 3-4 days ago and caught 7. Biggest ones so far are 10.5" and weighed 12 ozs. So, on a whim, I decided to go look again today and they are still there. Makes me wonder what they will do at the new moon phase. Will people have them caught out or will I still see a big wave of them in just a few more days. I'll keep on checking. LOLOL

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Slabprowler

Great report ! As always nice pics.! those fish are spooky here also And some want bite looking for it to get better in 3-4 days!

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I started off this morning before the sun was up and was using a Southern Pro Stinger in pearl color with a hot orange head under a floater. The fish would hit at the jig and a couple pulled the small float under a little bit, but I couldn't hook them up. So I took the floater off and just tight lined the jig and it was game on. They hit it like a ravenous pack of wolves. I just love to fish with little plastics for these fish. I don't know how many I could have caught with nightcrawlers. They are messy. Grin. Plastics are so much better especially with a powerbait scent added to the plastic.

Great report and pics....thanks for sharing

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

Nice fish, the swings in weather and water temperatures may be affecting the bedding panfish more than the moon phase for this first spawn. Our water temps were 64 on the full Moon in April and if the bluegill read the same manuals that I do then they know they are not supposed to spawn till the water is around 70+ degrees. Not sure about the Shellcrackers but any way you look at they are fun to figure out and even more fun to catch.


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Great report as usual DK! I really enjoy reading your reports, entertaining and always informative.

:popcorn:notworthy