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Not Crappie, but I decided to chase a few gills this afternoon in Limestone Bay. All came from a 1/32oz spinner with a 1" White twister tail. Most fish came off isolated stumps in 12 to 18 inches of water. I kept half a limit and returned many, many more for another day. Also had several bass and even 7 crappie. Not bad for a three hour trip.
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Nice box of fish!
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Just my opinion but I would take a cooler full of gills over crappie anytime. Nice work buddy.
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I agree on the gills. Most of these were 9 to 10 inches with the two largest shellcracker at 12 inches. I don't mind cleaning them when they're that size. It's taken me most of the summer, but I'm starting to figure out a few things with the gills now too.
Most flavorful fish in my book. Sometimes it's fun to change up. I'd like to learn more about catching them with artificial baits.
I decided to work hard this past summer trying new things and figuring out how to catch a few gills on artificial baits. I think I may have learned a few more things about Crappie in the process also. Couple things, very small baits, 1/32oz and 3/4" or 1" soft baits are the norm. Also, while they move deep in the lakes like the Crappie, you can catch them very shallow year round in the sloughs, back waters and rivers since deeper water isn't available. Probably the most surprising is seldom do a catch fish in open water (where I typically spent all my time casting before). These fish are like little bass or crappie and like to stay close to cover, stumps are great. The river was great this summer, I'd find a big tree putting shade out over the water and could boat a dozen throw backs and five or six keepers like clock work every time.
DB are you casting these small jigs and slow rolling them or putting them under a small cork?
Wow! I thought shellcrscker "disappeared" when not bedding according to the experts. Ha!
Nice job.
These came of a small 1/32oz spinner with a 1" white twister tail fished just fast enough to keep it off the bottom. Some were also caught by letting the spinner fall as a went by a visible stump. They actually hit pretty good considering the water was only 55 degrees. I get hung a lot, but it's easy to paddle over and get loose.
Those are some awesome shell crackers there DB! Good job on another great trip.
Db one of my favorite gill baits is a strike king bissy minnow. It's a small crankbait for pan fish. It works pretty well with crappie at times. Give it a try you can get them at Walmart for a couple of bucks. The little gills want hit it but the bigger fish will.
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Well done DB.
lowe175,
Thanks for the tip! The little ones were wearing me out, I'll have to give that a try.
Nice catch and a lot of fun
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Nice catch
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