Are most of the larger crackers caught around the banks or are they from deeper water? Reason I asked is I was planning on checking out a hump I know of in the lake here that rises to about 10' deep and is surrounded by 20' of water or even deeper all around the hump. Matter of fact I know of a couple places like that at different parts of the lake. For this time of the year would that (in your opinion) be too deep for spawning crackers? From my question you can tell I've never fished for 'em unless I stumbled across a decent bed or smelled 'em, and usually that's been bluegills. If those humps are something to fish, how'd you go about it...bottom fishing, slip floats, using live worms, crickets, jigs, etc.?!?

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i have caught most of my big red ears in 5 to 9 feet of water they seem to spawn in deeper water i would give the hump a try if they are there you will find them on bottom drag a worm across the hump on bottom hope you get into them

I rarely catch them right on the bank.As most people on this forum say fish where your boat would be while bluegill fishing.They usually bed in a little deeper water than bluegill.I would give that hump a try as 10ft is not too deep for a bed.Fish right on the bottom with worm's or crisket's.They prefer live bait but will bite most small jig's.Keep in mind they tend to spook kind of easy especially in clear water.

Gabowman, That hump sounds perfect, and is just like where I catch alot of my fish. However, not all spots like that will produce for whatever reason. The trick is to find as many of these places as you can, and move from place to place till you find them feeding. Sloping points in 9-15 deep, also have produced for me, as has a flat in 10-15 feet of water bordering dropoffs and channels. The thing that really helped my cracker fishing, was finally realizing that they do not have to be spawning, in order for you to catch a mess of big ones. They just have to be feeding, sometimes you catch them with eggs, and sometimes they have spawned already. Timing is everything also. The best times for me have been july, august, sept. The hotter the better. But have caught them in dec. also, so they can be more unpredictable than a regular bream. The best spots seem to have alot of small clams the size of your fingernails, or midge larvae worms, which will escape your vision, unless you look very close in the cooler, where the fish will spit some of them up. hope I shed some light.

I didn't answer your entire question...You never know when you go fishing, whether you are going to find them deep or shallow. And yes, they go shallow too, and not just to spawn either. My opinion, is that wherever the food source is for that day, then that is where they will probably be. This time of year, I carry at least two rods rigged for bottom fishing, with a #4 or #2 crappie hook, and a couple of split shot about 2 1/2 feet up the line, and one rod rigged with a slip cork, crappie hook and a good size split shot. This is for shallow water. I don't use a bobber stop, so the bait goes to the bottom, and I can watch the bobber for any movement. To fish shallow, I go from cypress tree to cypress tree. They love cypress trees for some reason, they will spawn around them too. If a cypress tree is sitting out in the water by itself, and it's in 3-5 feet of water, and there is a dropoff starting only a few feet from it, that is the perfect spot. They could be right around the tree, or on the dropoff, out from the tree a little. Also check under overhanging bushes and branches, with the bobber rig..redworms mostly

gabowman,are there any lily pads or dense weeds in more than 4' of water on this lake you're fishing.I would target an area like that also.It was close to 100*f here in easter,nc yesterday and i caught the daylights out of them in about 5' of water next to a weed bed in a tidal river.

Unfortunately, this lake has no weeds, lily pads, cypress trees, etc. It is a Corp. lake which mostly has tree stumps left in the coves for "fish shelters" but that's about it. The only gills I've found that were congregated and had decent size was during the spawn and that was beds way, way back up in remote places a bigger boat wouldnt even be able to get to. I've never really targeted bream on the lake. I've stumbled onto bream beds while out bowfishing a couple times and went back and fished the beds. This year I saw several beds but only managed bait-sized bream off them. I tried fishing deeper water away from those beds but didnt catch anything of any size. I know there's gotta be some big bream in this lake cause I caught good hand sized bream in there 20+ years ago but guess I dont know enough about them to know where to look. Thanks for your tips guys.

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Gabowman, The first thing we gotta do is determine if the lake has crackers in it. Being in georgia I would think it did, but nothing is for sure. Have you heard of any being caught there? If they are, you can find them, if you don't give up. If there are any in there, and they are decent size, people will talk about them, as long as you don't act too interested, lol If you are trying to find them, the more poles the better, as far as fishing open water, on a hump etc. I will use three poles, and others use more. Anchor the boat front and back, and toss your baits in different directions, lay them down, and tighten up on the line a little. Remember that your bait needs to be on or near the bottom, and that goes for artifitial baits too. They will hit a white beetle spin with a red dot too. let it go to the bottom, and reel it in just off the bottom. Each body of water will have a certain technique that works good. The best guys to pay attention to, are the old timers. carry a pair of binocs, and watch others, to see what they are doing, and if they are catching fish. The best cracker fisherman I know does this. georgia is cracker heaven!