Shellcracker and bluegill tips as taught to me 40 yrs. ago in Florida
Well here goes my 2nd. post. I consider this info. to be priceless, as it was passed down to me by an old man in Lake Griffin Fl. in 1975.
I live for the challenge of finding and catching, but more than that to understand WHY ARE THEY THERE. I had been fishing the area for several days with not much to show for it I kept seeing this man unloading cooler after cooler of huge crackers n gills. After 3 days of this I could not stand it any longer and introduced myself. We talked for about an hr. and turns out he was born on the river and he was selling the fish to supplement his social security. I ask him if he would consider teaching me his art if I would help supplement his s/s. The next a.m. he showed up at dawn along with his arsenal, 1 cane pole 16', a mason jar for hooks, 1 sm. spool of 15lb. cheap mono, OLD 15qt.styrofoam cooler and a long handled fine mesh net and says to me, "you b ready"? So off we go !
We went to the area I had been working for the last 3 days and he turns to me and says," cut dat big motor off and puts yo electric one on". It was slick calm perfect conditions as it turned out for what we were about to do.He steps up on the deck and tells me run the trolling motor. He says you smell um, it smelled like dead fish.I know, you guys just THINK YOU KNOW WHERE I'M GOING WITH THIS ---W R O N G !!!
He says u got that part and i say yes lets fish. He just smiles and says we just getting started troll over near the shoreline. He says see the eel grass and with a couple of swipes with the net we had all of the grass shrimp we would need.Now troll back over to where we just smelled um. NOW YOU GUYS LISTEN TO THIS. He says you see those bubbles and i point to a set of bubbles he says no those are catfish bubbles. He points out a small set,it looked as if you had shook a coke up and held it under the water and barely let the gas escape little tiny bubble he called beading. He says the female roe cavity has air inside it, makes sense. I say lets fish he says not yet you b wanting to learn don't you? He says see that lil shell that just pop up and i did see it but why a shell. He says fl. was once covered with the sea and when those males are working their tails fanning muck they finally get to the shell bottom and it knocks those TINY shells loose and they are so small they will float to the top.I say great lets fish, he says well you know what he said. Now he says, see that oil slick and i could not see it then he shows it to me. It looked like you took a can of 3 in machine oil and held it under the surface and squeezed it 1 time. Guess what it looked like on the surface you got it, a small slick about half the size of his mason jar lid. Why i say, cause her roe b oily and where do oil go when released under water. I say lets fish, he smiles ands says hand me my pole. This pole is 16' and he has a 3' piece of line tied with a 2/0 short shank stainless hook (that's his sinker ) then he slips 3 or 4 shrimp onto the hook (shrimp also serves as weight) TOTAL NATURAL PRESENTATION !! He drops the bait straight down where ever he sees a bead,oil slick,or shell. Next time you guys come to Fl.give it a try i promise you it works. By the way water depth in that spawning area was approx.3 ft.
