Eastern Shore Shellcracker

Comment

Comment by Mike Cooper on March 12, 2016 at 8:46pm

Nice sized fish there!

Comment by carl hendrix on March 12, 2016 at 4:30pm

KEITH;  A 11 INCH SHELL CRACKER CAN GET YOU A STATE CERTIFICATE  IF YOU ENTER IT

Comment by jim cosgrove on March 12, 2016 at 12:27pm

thanks jim,they do always seem to be deep.the few i have caught were definately not in the same areas and depth as the gills.this lake also has a lot of longears and i have found how to target them some.they are being stocked here too.not their normal range,i am at this lake the same time every year and is prespawn for most everything except crappies

Comment by Keith Ritter on March 12, 2016 at 11:54am

I have had the same trouble Jim and still haven't figured it out completely but I have had success trying to fish under the bluegill I find. Sinking the bait quickly to the bottom gives me a better shot of catching a nice cracker. It seems that in my area the bluegill and shell crackers share common areas and if you cast a slow sinking bait or suspend a cricket or worm  under a float the aggressive bluegill snap it up before it ever gets to shell crackers. I fished a drop shot rig with a piece of night crawler in likely blue gill spots and caught a good mixture of blue gill  and shell crackers. My brother fished a float rig and caught almost entirely bluegill. I intend to research this more but I think it's a good place to start. This is one of the 11 inters I caught with this technique. 

Comment by jim cosgrove on March 12, 2016 at 9:36am

where you finding them jim?lake i go to every spring has some and some big ones but i only seem to get 1 here or there.have no problem catching gills crappies and even the long ears who always seem to be on the bottom.i know this lake well and it has every type of structure there is.deep water shallow.tons of lay downs coves points rip rap.sand beacches culverts flowing in.tons of boat houses..like if in fisherman built it.can not find the shell crackers .or at least target them

Comment by carl hendrix on March 12, 2016 at 8:42am

10 INCH CRACKERS !!  NOW THATS A GREAT FIND !!  CONGRATS TO THE BOTH OF YOU !!