Shellcracker and my 2 cents

They are carnivores. They want meat. I might catch one by accident on a cricket sometimes, but when I do I quickly switch to worms. There made a hundred in a whole and I'll catch one on a cricket and then nothing else will bite. I'll switch to worms and it's on. It is a mystery. They are larger fish than bream on average, but their bite can hardly be felt. If I'm fishing and get a bite I can tell the difference and tell you wether it's a bream or shellcracker. A shell cracker will take the bait real easy then take the bobber down slow. When I set the hook thinking its a "stumpbumper"(that's what we call little panfish)it'll about take the rod out of my hand. A bream on the other hand will slam it to start with and you'll think you got a monster only to find a 6oz bream on the hook. Just remember cricket bream, worm shellcracker. Anyone agree... if you disagree:p

All fish are predatory to a certain extent, even a veggie eater like carp will take insects. Bluegill will take worms also :). I've had Bluegill bite as soft as Shellcrackers before, not often, but on occasion. Shellcrackers will take worms and scuds (freshwater shrimp). But I caught my biggest Shellcracker on a surface fly (#8 yellow foam pusher) rather than a scud fly or a live scud or a live worm. Go figure:rolleyes:.

Your right, but on average the bream is a more agressive fish than shellcracker. I've also caught bream on a little of everything as well as shellcracker, but for numbers and size this is my two rules. I'm "speaking of beating the bank" in warm water. I can fish worms all day and not catch a fish, while the man in the back fishes with crickets and slays the bream. But when I hit the "crackers" I load the boat from one hole and they won't hit crickets with any consistancy at all. Scuds are great just hard to get. Worms and crickets are a dime a dozen. If I'm fishing deep for panfish I don't use crickets. I usually use worms of any kind mainly crawlers. For shallower water fishing I use georgia jumpers, bream like those. I use red worms for shellcrackers when tossing a bream buster. Someone posted that they had caught a 30lb carp on a minnow. Anything can happen, but you don't target carp with minnows.

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Originally Posted by stumpbumpers

They are carnivores. They want meat. I might catch one by accident on a cricket sometimes, but when I do I quickly switch to worms. There made a hundred in a whole and I'll catch one on a cricket and then nothing else will bite. I'll switch to worms and it's on. It is a mystery. They are larger fish than bream on average, but their bite can hardly be felt. If I'm fishing and get a bite I can tell the difference and tell you wether it's a bream or shellcracker. A shell cracker will take the bait real easy then take the bobber down slow. When I set the hook thinking its a "stumpbumper"(that's what we call little panfish)it'll about take the rod out of my hand. A bream on the other hand will slam it to start with and you'll think you got a monster only to find a 6oz bream on the hook. Just remember cricket bream, worm shellcracker. Anyone agree... if you disagree:p

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Stumpbumper, I agree completely with you on the fact that shell crackers, we call them chickapins, will hit on worms ten times better than they will on crickets. If you catch one on a cricket it is usually an accident. Once I catch one, I switch to worms.
Shadow

i had a old guy tell me if you want to catch shellcrackers you need to have your hook near the bottom when fishing in shallow water in the spring i catch shellcrackers on small tube jigs

Some of the old-timers in Louisiana will tell you that in the shallow water take the butt end of your pole and probe around on bottom until you start hearing a crunch and that is where you need to start fishing for shell crackers. This is b/c the s.c's eat the small snails and mollusks on the bottom so the guy who told you to fish around the bottom was telling you right in my opinion.
Shadow

Is it true that shellcrackers go on the bed one week befor the full moon and bream go on the full moon,and is this the best time to fish for them.

I've never caught one. My new neighbor caught about 6 one day last fall on Barkley Lake and he also told me to use redworms on the bottom. I would like to try for some myself but only after the crappie slow down.Where would you look for them in the spring?

Taz--I live on barkley and fish for shellcrckers on a regular basis. If you want to catch them off the beds, look for the mustard grass growing near or on a gravel bank and fish just off the grass line. I use jigs tipped with a wax worm and an ultra-light rig. It is loads of fun when you tie into a 2lb+ shellcracker on that outfit. After the spawn go to deepr water over a gravel bottom and fish with redworms or leeches right on the bottom. In late summer there will be a multitude of snails to be found around the shoreline rocks. Just gather some snails and bust them open and use the meat inside to fish in 10ft or so of water on the gravel bottom.

We fish out of Bumpus Mills Saline Creek in Tennessee on Barkley just alittle south of you. What are you calling mustard grass? Is that the weeds that grow out in the lake with the yellow flowers? Most that I've seen are in shallow flats. At what time of the year do you target these fish? I saw where my neighbor was anchored last fall and he was fishing a log jam at the mouth of a small creek on the main lake. I've been fishing Barkley now for about 10 yrs now and have never caught one yet.

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Originally Posted by driller

Taz--I live on barkley and fish for shellcrckers on a regular basis. If you want to catch them off the beds, look for the mustard grass growing near or on a gravel bank and fish just off the grass line. I use jigs tipped with a wax worm and an ultra-light rig. It is loads of fun when you tie into a 2lb+ shellcracker on that outfit. After the spawn go to deepr water over a gravel bottom and fish with redworms or leeches right on the bottom. In late summer there will be a multitude of snails to be found around the shoreline rocks. Just gather some snails and bust them open and use the meat inside to fish in 10ft or so of water on the gravel bottom.

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Driller,

I never get a shellcracker to hit a leech. :confused: Big bluegill tear them up and I have found the smaller bluegill don't bother the leeches as much. I fish barkley and KY the most. 1/3 of a crawler works best for me. Which area of barkley do you fish?

Thanks

Chris

1/3 crawler is best shellcracker live bait that i have found...bead head nymph fished along bottom real slow good on flyrod.

I have found shellcrackers will take a cricket just as often as bluegill in south Louisiana. Look at my pic that's a 2lb'er caught on a cricket:D . I do agree that they bite softer than bluegill. Either one fries up good.
Jim

Yep, that green stuff with the yellow flowers is mustard grass. When it is blooming the shellcrackers should be beding just off the deeper edge. Since thy like a gravel bottom, you need to find some growing on or near gravel. When bedding they will hit almost any bait you toss in the beds. Dont waste your time fishing the mustard grass growing on mud flats.

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Originally Posted by fishdoc

1/3 crawler is best shellcracker live bait that i have found...bead head nymph fished along bottom real slow good on flyrod.

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Doc, I Agree about the 1/3 of a nightcrawler. I Catch nearly all my Shellcrackers here that way.Cast it out and a Slow -Stop an Go Retreive back!!

Here's my 2 cents. My boy and I go to Kentucky Lake every year fishing for Bluegill and Redear (Shellcrackers). We fish the areas north of Paris Landing. We use nightcrawlers on plain 3 hook crawler harnesses with either #4 or 6 hooks. It seems the smaller work better. We use spinning equipment with ultra to light action rods and NO weight. Tossing the crawler and let it settle to the bottom. After letting it sit for a short while we work them very slowly back to the boat, stoping it occassionally, keeping it on the bottom. When they hit the crawler you know it. You don't miss many this way. The 3 hooks really hook the fish good. I'ts not uncommon to hook them in the side instead of the mouth. It's also not uncommon to catch 2 at a time, I have several pictures of this. This is a very productive method. The only problem is that you go through a BUNCH of nightcrawlers. If you get into them you can run out pretty quickly.

Another method we use is 32 oz jigs tipped with Bee Moths. In some areas they call them meal or wax worms. These are the type that look like a maggot and not a worm. Just casting the jig and letting it fall to the bottom is the best method we have found. Working the jig like plastic worm usually produces the hit on the fall. You don't miss too many this way either.

Out of both methods the crawler harness produces the best for us.

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Originally Posted by stumpbumpers

They are carnivores. They want meat. I might catch one by accident on a cricket sometimes, but when I do I quickly switch to worms. There made a hundred in a whole and I'll catch one on a cricket and then nothing else will bite. I'll switch to worms and it's on. It is a mystery. They are larger fish than bream on average, but their bite can hardly be felt. If I'm fishing and get a bite I can tell the difference and tell you wether it's a bream or shellcracker. A shell cracker will take the bait real easy then take the bobber down slow. When I set the hook thinking its a "stumpbumper"(that's what we call little panfish)it'll about take the rod out of my hand. A bream on the other hand will slam it to start with and you'll think you got a monster only to find a 6oz bream on the hook. Just remember cricket bream, worm shellcracker. Anyone agree... if you disagree:p

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Mealworms=Shellcrackers

Im also on ky lake, 4mi north of jonathan creek, been catching a few shellcrackers the last few weekends, mostly on mealworms tipped on a jigg my neighbor came up with,, he cuts the tail off a black twister,then threads 3 pieces of line throught the body,, it looks like a crickets,, amazing results,, caught crappie, lg mouth and sm mouth bass, catfish, and bluegill and shell crackers,, going back down this weekend,,
we are lucky right next to our dock is gravel bank with the mustard flowers,, so I dont even have to get in the boat to catch enough for dinner,,,,

Hey Driller I have caught some Redear but have never weighed one but have measured a few. How long is a 2lb.+ Redear?

I have always swithed to red worms after I found them. Just seems to be their preference of the baits they have on hand.

On a side note: I have read that there prefered diet is aquatic snails. They actually have specialezed teeth in the back of their mouth designed for crushing shells hence the name "shell cracker".


I have actually seen them feed this way while diving at Ginny Springs in Florida.

Oscar

http://webpages.charter.net/jmayer54...s/evrcfish.htm

Speaking of meat, while running out of worms, crickets, and other grubs I've caught them off chicken livers also.

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Originally Posted by driller

Taz--I live on barkley and fish for shellcrckers on a regular basis. If you want to catch them off the beds, look for the mustard grass growing near or on a gravel bank and fish just off the grass line. I use jigs tipped with a wax worm and an ultra-light rig. It is loads of fun when you tie into a 2lb+ shellcracker on that outfit. After the spawn go to deepr water over a gravel bottom and fish with redworms or leeches right on the bottom. In late summer there will be a multitude of snails to be found around the shoreline rocks. Just gather some snails and bust them open and use the meat inside to fish in 10ft or so of water on the gravel bottom.

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Ditto only I do it on Kentucky Lake.....listen to what driller is saying as he just saved me a lot of typing.

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Originally Posted by Greenwing

Hey Driller I have caught some Redear but have never weighed one but have measured a few. How long is a 2lb.+ Redear?

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13 1/2 - 14 inches.

My best bait for chinks is baby crawfish. Rake the ditches in spring and pick them up by the handfull.