Is there any dif?

Ok, shellcrackers and bluegill. Are they the same fish, or is there any difference in them? In Oklahoma, we have Bluegill. And one rarely finds them bigger than your hand, although certain bodies of water can have droves of nice big fat ones. But to find some of size in a major body of water is extremely rare. Seems the big Catfish love these guys as they are used for bait by some. I do know of a strip pit that holds some nice Blugill. And they all seem to hang out together. A simple jig, can wreak havoc within minutes. Twenty Five years ago, I fished an old Rock Quarry that was shallow, and had a forrest of willow trees throughout it. OMG, we used to flat tear them up with a canoe and a flyrod. It is one of the best fishing memories I have.
Is there a difference? Biggest one might see around here is maybe a pound, and that's rare.

they are the 2 seperate species you have blugill and then shllcracker, they are in the same family(sunfish) but are 2 distinct fish

bluegill
http://www.kdwp.state.ks.us/var/news...imagelarge.jpg\

shellcracker
http://www.lakeseminoleguide.com/ima...llcracker5.jpg

Good info! Do the crackers grow bigger for the most part?

there average size seems to be bigger in most places i fish and they seem to grow faster but both have bout the same maximum size of bout 4 1/2 pounds even so there averages are lot smaller then that...both world records are within ounces of each other

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Originally Posted by john h

there average size seems to be bigger in most places i fish and they seem to grow faster but both have bout the same maximum size of bout 4 1/2 pounds even so there averages are lot smaller then that...both world records are within ounces of each other

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Yep, I love 'em both. I think shellcrackers are the better fighter, though.

Bluegill in general have a very different coloration and body shape . Shell crackers are less rounded.

Also, the width (across the shoulders) of shell crackers tends to be thicker.

http://webpages.charter.net/jmayer5497/Photos/fish8.jpg

The large fish in the middle of this picture is a shell cracker. The rest are bluegill.

Oscar

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Originally Posted by Oscar73

Bluegill in general have a very different coloration and body shape . Shell crackers are less rounded.

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Yeah, bluegill get that "pug nose" when they get big. They look like a ping pong paddle. Shellcrackers keep the traditional fish shape. I've always thought shellcrackers looked a lot like black crappie, but with green markings instead of black. I think they're one of the prettiest fish in freshwater.

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Originally Posted by john h

they are the 2 seperate species you have blugill and then shllcracker, they are in the same family(sunfish) but are 2 distinct fish

bluegill
http://www.kdwp.state.ks.us/var/news...imagelarge.jpg\

shellcracker
http://www.lakeseminoleguide.com/ima...llcracker5.jpg

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Thanks.I always thought it was same fish also lol....The one you pictured above I always referred to as a "Redear" cause of the pretty little red trim around earlope.

Thanks for teaching a old dog a new trick :D

redear and shellcracker= same fish
blugill= diff fish

shellcracker and bluegill = TASTY FISH!!!!!!!!!

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Originally Posted by john h

redear and shellcracker= same fish
blugill= diff fish

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To make things even more confusing, they can hybridize with each other, and with other sunfish. I'm gonna take some pictures of some this spring. In my observation, they hybridize in our local waters.
Shellcracker are about my favorite catching and eating fish, in case my forum name didn't give me away.:D

darn i thought you were a carp fisherman lol

I always though a shellcracker was just a big bream...

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Originally Posted by poppop

I always though a shellcracker was just a big bream...

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And you know what :confused: ... the USA doesn't even have "Bream" swimming in its waters :eek:
A true "Bream" is a freshwater fish that's found in Europe !!

We tend to lump alot of sunfish species into the catagory of "Bream" ... but, there's a bunch of different ones.

Here's a look at some of the fish you can encounter, in my state ... KY.

(warning - it's a 2.77MB PDF file, and may take awhile to load ... esp on a dial-up system)

http://fw.ky.gov/pdf/kyfishid.pdf?li...47C301C547C138

... cp :cool: