The Shellcrackers

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Comment by shooter on March 4, 2009 at 7:05pm

Rob you got the water temps right on the chinks,the gills like that magic 70 ,although i have caught them on the beds in cooler water ,but no females always males the same for chinks. i have caught big male chinks in the beds in 55deg. water ,not fanning and not bedding but in the beds.
the big males seem to move in and out ,i have set on a bed and watched and waited for an hour or more ,you will see a boil or two. roll that fly in and work it slow ,bam big chink ,sometimes two or three then nothing,wait and watch and do the same thing again.they are a strange fish so different from the gills. in there habits and yet sometimes not.


gators eat my fish,i eat gators.

Comment by shooter on March 4, 2009 at 6:55pm

LOTF,RODS
snakes we have our share ,but they are not to bad in Chicot lake,the Gators keep them down.
but you are right about big snakes and fish,but that holds true for big gators too.

i hate gators

Comment by robsabloke on March 4, 2009 at 4:15pm

If the pond is very quiet and doesn't get much foot traffic on or near the bank... you can come across Big Bluegills in shallow water.... quiet places that are not easily accessed and don't get fished too often are likely spots. The lake I fish has heavy shore traffic and quite a few Tubers launching their craft and such. This will spook all fish from spawning close to the shore. The Bull gills at Lake Perris generally spawn deeper than the smaller fish... although there is a quiet bay (won't say where) where the water heats up a little quicker because it is shallow across the entire bay... I've seen Bull gills in there nesting close to the shore and a week or so earlier than the rest of the lake... but as stated earlier it's hard to get to and most people don't want to make the extra effort to get access. One thing the Bluegill look for is not just that specific spawning temperature... they seem to know (a sixth sense almost) when the water will maintain that temperature in order to hatch their eggs...

Comment by David Merical on March 4, 2009 at 12:51pm

Great! Thanks Rob!

It makes some sense that bigger Bull Gills would build nests in deeper water...but I noticed last year in at least one pond I fish that the bigger bluegills actually had the nests closest to shore...in the shallowest water. It struck me as odd, but maybe they've learned that the smaller cuckolding males are less likely to navigate the maze of deeper nests & bulls to get to theirs?
Or, maybe that pond is just an anomaly.

Comment by robsabloke on March 4, 2009 at 12:30pm

It's been our experience here that the fish tend to 'Bed' with other fish of the same or similar size... The bigger Bull Gills seem to spawn deeper than the others... so if you find a bed in shallow water... go a little deeper in the same area and you might be surprised. The beds are harder to find (See) in the deeper water but if you look for a color change in the water you can spot them... if not use a 'Finder'.. if you do find a bed of Bull Gills... hold on for a fun time... nothing like it... except dinner with the Mother-in-law of course.

Rob

Comment by robsabloke on March 4, 2009 at 12:25pm

Redears here generally spawn a little before the Bluegills... Redear about 66 - 68 degrees Bluegills right around 69 - 71 degrees. Having said that... I've found them sharing beds on many occasions. Also keep in mind that they both spawn multiple times throughout the Spring Summer and Fall... never quite with the Fervor that they have for the initial spawn in the Spring but you can still find beds all Summer long.

Regards
Rob

Comment by David Merical on March 4, 2009 at 12:02pm

Excellent advice, Rob. Thanks!

Time of year may be a bit earlier for you, since you are a fair bit south of my location. I suspect the water temps would be a good indicator, however.
In your experience on the lakes you fish....do the redears spawn slightly later, earlier, or about the same time as bluegills? Do they bed as shallow, or a bit deeper than bluegills?

I'll probably be fly-fishing for them, if I can get to them while they are still shallow. Its easy to go slow with a fly.

Comment by robsabloke on March 4, 2009 at 11:18am

Mr. Merical...

The magic water temp here in Southern California seems to be right around 67 degrees for spawning Redear... That's usual early to mid May here...They start moving up closer to shore when the water gets close to 64 degrees, in anticipation of their forthcoming antics. This is when you can get some Monsters. The Full Moon certainly seems to affect these fish (Bluegill too) and if you can get to the lake during that time in May you should have some fun. My friend Jim holds the lake Perris record with a beautiful fish of 2 lbs 12 ozs.

If there is one secret to catching Redears consistently it's probably fish
S L O W... and when you think you are fishing slow enough... fish S L O W E R... Many people don't realize how much line their fishing reels retrieve with just one complete turn of the handle. Some of the reels out there today can retrieve up to 30 inches of line per handle turn. Imagine your bait on the bottom and you turn the handle a complete turn... in just a few seconds... you've just moved your bait about a yard. I try to use quarter turns (that's still almost 6 inches on my Sustain)... it's harder to do than you might think... but if you can control yourself it can be well worth the effort.

Shellcrackers have a special set of 'Teeth' in their throats in order to help them crush snails and such... any bait that looks like a snail or scud will work. We have success with night crawlers... I actually have a fly I bought from Rainy that looks just like a tiny snail that you might find in your garden. It works very well.
One of the Biggest Redears I've ever seen caught (well over 2 lbs) was caught on a Crawdad (crayfish)... Crustaceans would seem the way to go...

Tight Lines

Rob

Comment by Lord of the Fly , Rods on March 3, 2009 at 7:13pm

Thanks Shooter, question ,are the snakes as bad down there as I remember, I always said big snakes know where the big fish are.

Comment by shooter on March 3, 2009 at 6:24pm

Joe B
may is always hot down here too,some of the best gill,and chink fishing happens on the week of the full moon in may. nothing like catching them gills & chinks when the bedding is hot.

gators like hot water

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