Well, it is winter .

Because of my wife’s doctor appointment this morning, I wasn’t able to get to the pond until around 2pm .
Checking the weather before I left home , they said sunny 59 degrees wind 5-10 .
When I got to the pond , it was sunny , but a bit breezy and within thirty minutes it turned cloudy and the wind picked up . ( got home , weather channel said gusts to 18mph )
I’d planned on trying some small plastics on a drop shot but didn’t do any good in my regular spot . I saw one area of sun on the dam and decided to try that .
That end of the dam is a shallow flat and sometimes the sun will warm that area and draw some fish into it .
I was fishing with a St Croix 6’ ULF Panfish rod , a KastKing Zephyr finesse 1000 reel and what turned out to be 6# p-line fluorescent green line . I picked up the wrong reel getting ready this morning and had forgotten I’d spooled up a reel for some wacky worm fishing .
It cast pretty good , considering the heavy line .
About the third cast on the dam side I felt a tap and thought I’d hooked a LM bass . Turned out to be a shellcracker.
I was using a Bison Trout Magnet on a 1/80th jighead , above a 1/16th weight .
Almost made the 10” mark .
The wind picked up and it turned completely cloudy and overcast , and although the weather on my phone said it was 59 degrees , my freezing hands said it was a lot colder than that .
After only an hour , I headed back home .
Maybe the sun will shine tomorrow and I can get back up there .

Beautiful picture

Thats a solid gill.

Beautiful gill, nice you could get out!
Bob

Nice catch, and I like that you include the details of your tackle.

Thanks guys ,
That shellcracker was the hardest gill to photograph . I would get him positioned and before I could snap a picture , he’d flop off the ruler .
He did this at least 10 times . :)
I had to wipe him off twice , and once I took a chance of losing him and dipped him back into the pond .
As soon as I got him back on the bank , he came unhooked .
I almost didn’t get a picture of it .

That os a good specimen

Those shell crackers are feisty. Nice catch.

Of the fish that share that shape, the ‘crackers are my favorite. I can tell what it is most times before I see it. If the strike of a redbreast could be joined with the power of a shellcracker, I’d fish for nothing else. Good pic of a nice fish, and a little time out is better than none. I have some fleece gloves without fingertips that have worked well on many cold trips, inexpensive too. If you find them and they aren’t tight on your hand, buy two pair. I wish I had done that with the ones I had with a leather palm, best ever. Compare all the ones I’ve had since to them.

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Originally Posted by skeetbum

Of the fish that share that shape, the ‘crackers are my favorite. I can tell what it is most times before I see it. If the strike of a redbreast could be joined with the power of a shellcracker, I’d fish for nothing else. Good pic of a nice fish, and a little time out is better than none. I have some fleece gloves without fingertips that have worked well on many cold trips, inexpensive too. If you find them and they aren’t tight on your hand, buy two pair. I wish I had done that with the ones I had with a leather palm, best ever. Compare all the ones I’ve had since to them.

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I agree , seems like redbreast stay hungry, but shellcracker fight the best. Bluegill are sort of a compromise.
And you best have a good hold on the shellcracker , they’ll fin the heck out of your hand . :)
I have some fingerless fishing gloves that have leather palms that I wear most of the time , partly to protect against ring finned .
Being on blood thinners, just a poke will bleed more than I want .
I keep antibiotic hand sanitizer in my truck and clean my hands after fishing and handling fish .
I get cold a lot easier than I used to . I think thats the blood thinners too.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gillchaser999

I agree , seems like redbreast stay hungry, but shellcracker fight the best. Bluegill are sort of a compromise.
And you best have a good hold on the shellcracker , they’ll fin the heck out of your hand . :)
I have some fingerless fishing gloves that have leather palms that I wear most of the time , partly to protect against ring finned .
Being on blood thinners, just a poke will bleed more than I want .
I keep antibiotic hand sanitizer in my truck and clean my hands after fishing and handling fish .
I get cold a lot easier than I used to . I think thats the blood thinners too.

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Me too and I had best be careful to protect my hands. I lost my fishing gloves last year (don’t ask how!) and need to get a new pair for this year. Pokes are bad, scratches are manageable with the blood thinners. Ah, aging!:Rofl
Bob

I believe you’re right about the thinners. I’m on a low dose aspirin and I notice the extended bleed time and I’m colder easier. Doesn’t stop the 16 year olds brain that’s still stuck in my head from going out to do what I want. Then I realize I’m cold and head for cover.