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I'm sure it's been asked before but I just gotta know. Where do these fish go when they are not on the bed??? I fish in large lakes and can only find these fish on the beds. Where to go and how to fish for them the rest of the year I have no idea. I mostly fish for crappie but love the fight of a big shellcracker once in a while.Any info would be great. Thanks.
In my experience, they move into deeper water near the spawning areas.
Catch 'em all summer long, like was said, in deeper water. Around here though, there'll be several waves of spawners up to the dog days of summer. I like catching them under a strike indicator with flies, but I'll drown worms and crickets if that's what it takes.
I'm going to tell this from 2nd hand and not personal experience; a wildlife biologist friend of mine experienced this a few years ago. He was working LBL and ran across 2 elderly men with insect nets, catching grasshoppers. This was in the hot summertime. When he asked them what they were using the grasshoppers for, they showed him a cooler FULL of huge redears that they had caught in 20 feet of water in the middle of a major creek on Barkley. Most folks who fish for redears would do better turning around and fishing toward deep water in all situations. The fish don't go into a hole in the bottom, they just find deep water with a food source and spend the non-spawn times of the year there.
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Originally Posted by mrdux
That sounds pretty reasonable. I think redears tend to like deeper water than gills, but I don't doubt you could also catch some nice gills doing that.
I remember reading an article years ago in the old Southern Outdoors magazine (I'm dating myself.) Anyway, this guy did nothing but fly fish for gills on Kentucky Lake. He would find a creek channel off shore and fish a sinking fly -- caught fish year round. He and a buddy caught over 600 in one day.
I don't fish for redears much, and don't fish bluegill much after they bed. But I really enjoy fishing for them in late winter through spring (say from February through early April), and I'd say they behave in a similiar fashion during the late summer. I've learned a little more about doing that this year in a few lakes in Arkansas, but have also caught a lot of winter bluegill on Barkley and KY Lake. For me, the trick has been to find fish holding around some kind of cover in deeper water (but not necessarily super deep for bluegill; most are 5 to 10 feet, it seems). Often as not, there are a few fish around any given piece of wood cover, and on the big Kentucky Lakes, they seem to gather around rock piles. I have the best luck vertically fishing with a tiny jig and piece of nightcrawler or waxworm. I drop it all the way to the bottom, then pull it up about 6 inches. I fish my way up, moving it a half foot or so at a time, to about 3 feet deep or so until I catch a fish or decide they aren't in that spot. Most of the bites are so light I'd never be able to feel them by casting or watching a bobber, and by fishing vertically, I think it gives the fish more time to ease up and examine a bait before biting it.
I don't know any of this for a fact, but it just seems to be my experience. Those fish are really good to eat after a long, cold winter. :D
There will be a large concentration of redears holding on shell beds during the summer months but they are difficult to find. Some people use aquavus to locate the shell beds. The asian clam beds in the lake I fish are usually 10 to 15 ft. Another way to find chinquapin is to locate a submerged road bed in the lake and vertical fish the road until you find them. The redears tend to like the gravel.
they can be shallow or they can be deep ( 8-18 feet ) most of the crackers I catch are not bedding. the best deeper spots I have are submerged humps in the middle of the lake with deeper water around it. anchor on top, and drop your redworms on the drop and then pull it towards you till you think it's about 12 feet. fish on the bottom with 2 or 3 rods. another good place is a long sloping point, anchoring in 5 feet of water and throwing the worms out in 10-15 fow. stumps and debris is a plus too, they will wrap ya up alot.
oh yeah, the dead of summer is my best time, altho it's uncomfortable. wear that sheer nylon clothing, the fly fishermen use in hot weather and get a lightweight hat to keep the sun off ya. a bimini or umbrella would get in the way but would probly be worth the hassle. gatorade and water are a plus.
A old fisherman told me long ago "the biguns' are on the bottom" I always caught the biggest bream when I went with that man . Shellcrackers eat mussels hence the name.I
have always done best with a whole Lousiana pink (hooked twice where it can dangle and move on the bottom) . A drop shot rig with the worm a foot off the bottom works
well also.