The Shellcrackers

Comment

Comment by shooter on February 21, 2009 at 7:06am

"Most fishermen swiftly learn that it's a pretty good rule never to show a favorite spot to any fisherman you wouldn't trust with your wife"

gators are ugly

Comment by richard adkins on February 12, 2009 at 3:12pm

Happiness is a case of cold beer and a spawning bed of 10.5 inch shellcrackers!!!

Comment by shooter on February 6, 2009 at 8:27pm

Eggman that is a chink for sure aka shellcracker,or redear sunfish,one and the same. a nice fish too.



gators stink

Comment by shooter on January 23, 2009 at 3:24pm

hey kip,you are right ,dog days of summer i love them,hot and still,very few fishermen on the lake. but the chinks are there like you said on the bottom just waiting. man we need some good hot louisiana weather.eight weeks tell spring,i guess i will tie a few more flies.


gators bite

Comment by BlueGill Godzilla ><((º> on January 20, 2009 at 10:21am

I have caught many Shell Crackers in Lake Guntersville Alabama in the Spring. Depending upon what the weather patterns and water conditions have been the months of April thru May are good fishing. When Shell Crackers are on the beds they are very aggressive and will hit a small Beetle Spin (1/32 to 1/16 Oz.) with a Gold Blade that is dressed with a Black/Chartreuse Crayfish. I use Mega-Strike as a scent on the whole Beetle Spin and a portion of the fishing line one foot above the bait. Just cast out and let the Beetle Spin fall all the way to the bottom, then start reeling in slowly. I use 4 to 6 pound test line on a spinning rod and reel. When the Shell Crackers are on the beds they really pound the bait and fight like heck. The small shallow cuts in the lakes shore line seem to produce the best because they are protected from the prevailing winds and warm up first.

Comment by shooter on December 12, 2008 at 12:49pm

some good info on red ear feeding habits:
Food habits: Trophic classifications and mode for this species: Invertivore, benthic and drift; crusher. Main food items are snails and small mussels, with aquatic insects taken also. Because of feeding mode, this species is known as the shell cracker in some parts of range (Goldstein and Simon 1999). Seldom feeds at surface; aquatic snails are major food item throughout range; diet also includes insect larvae and cladocerans (Carlander 1977, Lee 1980). Huish (1958) and Wilbur (1969) note this species feeding primarily on bottom-inhabiting organisms; common foods including mollusks (primarily small snails), midge larvae (chironomids), amphipods, and mayfly and dragonfly larvae. Individuals may swim head-down into the bottom, raising a cloud of sand or mud, when feeding on bottom-inhabiting prey such as mayflies or snails (Wilbur 1969). The feeding pattern of this species, crushing and consuming large numbers of snails, is unique among sunfishes found in Texas. To accommodate feeding, both the bones of the pharyngeal jaws are enlarged, as are muscles responsible for the crushing movement. Species also shows a specialized pattern of muscle contraction that is not found in other, nonmolluskan-feeding sunfishes (Wainwright and Lauder 1992). Feeding involves acquiring a snail using the jaws, followed by the transfer of the snail to the pharyngeal area for crushing. After crushing shell, the soft tissues are held between upper chewing pad and pharyngeal teeth, remnants of the shell (about 85% of shell material) is then expelled (Stein et al. 1984). Major food items in Lake Ponchartrain, Louisiana, included mud crabs (Rhithropanopeus), other small crustaceans (especially gammarid amphipods) and midges. Midges more important in diet of small individuals; large large fish fed primarily on mud crabs

Comment by kip noblitt on December 3, 2008 at 7:28pm

I find that in the area that I fish, the dog days of summer are the best for shellcrackers, it simply cannot get too hot for them. remember, they spend alot of time on the bottom, and it's hard to go wrong putting your bait there. If you like watching a bobber try this. Put a slip bobber on your line without any bobber stop. and put enough split shot above your hook to take the bait down. now, wherever you throw that rig the bait will be on the bottom. you don't even have to keep a tight line, give it a little slack. when he takes it, you will either see the horizontal bobber jiggling and pointing in the direction of the fish, or you'll see the slack line on the surface shooting thru the bobber. most of the time they swallow the hook, so you have plenty of time to set the hook. buy your hooks by the hundred. size 4 or size 2 aberdeen crappie hooks, depending on the size of the fish. a 1 1/2 lb. shellcracker will swallow a 7" bass worm with a 3/0 hook.

Comment by shooter on December 2, 2008 at 6:41pm

hi David,yes mono,i make them from mono off a broom,it makes great eyes.
it is an easy fly to tie ,just wrap the shank add 4 pcs of flash and wrap,i let the flash run out on both ends of the hook.i cut two short and leave two long at the head and cut them all the same at the tail. (i add a little super glue before i wrap the pearl estaz on ) makes a stronger fly,you know those gills and chinks can be rough on a fly. then trim the top and sides,your are done,i fish it weighted and not. some thank the #4 hook is to large but it works for me and i get better hookups .some times i add a little red underneath with a marker.
i use a lot of pearl estaz in my flys,as it takes marker pin color well,so i just keep a good supply of peral.

Comment by David Merical on December 1, 2008 at 7:17am

Shooter, that's an interesting fly. Is that "mono eyes" near the hook bend?

Comment by Michael J. Searl on November 30, 2008 at 12:26pm

I thought I had already joined this fine group. I enjoy fishing for the Shellcracker when I get the chance, usually out in Iowa. I have a tale to tell about a local experiance with them. We have a local public strip pit of a little over 10 acres. There was quite a problem with worms in the bluegill. I called the local fisheries bioligest and asked permission to buy and stock red ear hoping it would help. He was impressed,but said there are too many bass there and would scarf up the size fish available for purchase. He said he would get adult fish and stock it when he got time . 2 weeks later there were a set of tracks backing down to the water. This all occured a couple years ago. I stopped fishing that lake for 2 years hoping to remove all the pressure I could. This fall, I returned with a set of rules. No keeping the largest of the bluegill males and no Red Ear. The first 5 fish I caught were Red Ear! They weren't real big at 1/2 to 3/4 lb. but plump and healthy. The next was a big bull bluegill. Finally I got on a nice batch of mid sized gills. When I cleaned them I found no worms.
Did I personally make a difference? Really hard to tell, but to my satisfaction ,The overall size of the gills has improved greatly, worms are about all gone, and have an upcomming red ear population to enjoy.
This is a public lake so I'll be keeping my fingers crossed, but looking good for now.. ole Mike

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• …
• 23
• 24
• 25
• 26
• 27
• 28
• Next ›
• Page