Shallow/Deep

Have fished for shellcrackers all my life on the river I live close to. We mainly only fish for them in the spring of the year when the river level is up and the creeks and sloughs are flooded. We normally find them in shallow water 5-3ft. I have been reading alot on here where people are fishing beds in 8-12ft. of water or more. I guess I always thought that they bedded real shallow and have never looked for them in deeper water. I will be doing alot of fishing in lakes this year so I want have to worry about the water level fluctuating that much hopefully. Just wondering if ya'll cracker pros usually find them in shallow water or deeper water????:confused:

I usually miss the shellcracker spawn. When I have hit it, the fish were shallow, as in a foot out from the bank in 2' of water. On other trips, I've seen crackers on the beds in less than a foot of water.

I catch 'em deeper AFTER the spawn.

The depth of the spawning beds many times depends on the clarity of the water. In very clear water, they tend to make nests deeper than in murky or stained water.
I agree with DeathB that many times I've caught large fish in very shallow water when they're bedding. Sometimes so shallow, you can see their dorsal fins stick out above the surface. There's very little clear water around here. Most of it is acidic cypress swamp type water.
Another factor is if the water rises or falls after they choose their nesting site. If the river you fish has pad beds, after the spawn try fishing worms along the outside edge of the pads. Around here that's 4-6' deep.

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Originally Posted by ShellQuacker

The depth of the spawning beds many times depends on the clarity of the water. In very clear water, they tend to make nests deeper than in murky or stained water.
I agree with DeathB that many times I've caught large fish in very shallow water when they're bedding. Sometimes so shallow, you can see their dorsal fins stick out above the surface. There's very little clear water around here. Most of it is acidic cypress swamp type water.
Another factor is if the water rises or falls after they choose their nesting site. If the river you fish has pad beds, after the spawn try fishing worms along the outside edge of the pads. Around here that's 4-6' deep.

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Well, I just wanted to make sure I have not been looking in the wrong spots. Most of our water is murky too. And most of the time when we are fishing in the spring--Ocmulgee River--the crackers will even be out in the flooded timber. But I have started to fish more lakes--Talquin, Blackshear--and I want to make sure that when I go there, I am looking in the right place. I caught fish last spring in those lakes but I fished them just like I did in my river--shallow not far off the bank. But I do remember a few times when we were moving around and would be in deeper water and just happened to catch a big cracker and just thought it was not where it was supposed to be. But maybe there was a bed there and I just didn't think about trying it out that far!! So this year I will check in places from 10'-2'.:D