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Thread: Shellcracker and my 2 cents

  1. #1
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    Default Shellcracker and my 2 cents


    They are carnivores. They want meat. I might catch one by accident on a cricket sometimes, but when I do I quickly switch to worms. There made a hundred in a whole and I'll catch one on a cricket and then nothing else will bite. I'll switch to worms and it's on. It is a mystery. They are larger fish than bream on average, but their bite can hardly be felt. If I'm fishing and get a bite I can tell the difference and tell you wether it's a bream or shellcracker. A shell cracker will take the bait real easy then take the bobber down slow. When I set the hook thinking its a "stumpbumper"(that's what we call little panfish)it'll about take the rod out of my hand. A bream on the other hand will slam it to start with and you'll think you got a monster only to find a 6oz bream on the hook. Just remember cricket bream, worm shellcracker. Anyone agree... if you disagree:p
    This only my opinion, but nothing you can say will change my mind. That makes it a FACT.

    Today is a Blessed Day and a Prosperous Day

  2. #2
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    All fish are predatory to a certain extent, even a veggie eater like carp will take insects. Bluegill will take worms also . I've had Bluegill bite as soft as Shellcrackers before, not often, but on occasion. Shellcrackers will take worms and scuds (freshwater shrimp). But I caught my biggest Shellcracker on a surface fly (#8 yellow foam pusher) rather than a scud fly or a live scud or a live worm. Go figure:rolleyes:.
    Last edited by dixieangler; 03-02-2006 at 12:07 AM.
    Robert B. McCorquodale

    "Flip a fly"


  3. #3
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    Your right, but on average the bream is a more agressive fish than shellcracker. I've also caught bream on a little of everything as well as shellcracker, but for numbers and size this is my two rules. I'm "speaking of beating the bank" in warm water. I can fish worms all day and not catch a fish, while the man in the back fishes with crickets and slays the bream. But when I hit the "crackers" I load the boat from one hole and they won't hit crickets with any consistancy at all. Scuds are great just hard to get. Worms and crickets are a dime a dozen. If I'm fishing deep for panfish I don't use crickets. I usually use worms of any kind mainly crawlers. For shallower water fishing I use georgia jumpers, bream like those. I use red worms for shellcrackers when tossing a bream buster. Someone posted that they had caught a 30lb carp on a minnow. Anything can happen, but you don't target carp with minnows.
    This only my opinion, but nothing you can say will change my mind. That makes it a FACT.

    Today is a Blessed Day and a Prosperous Day

  4. #4
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    Thumbs up I agree

    Quote Originally Posted by stumpbumpers
    They are carnivores. They want meat. I might catch one by accident on a cricket sometimes, but when I do I quickly switch to worms. There made a hundred in a whole and I'll catch one on a cricket and then nothing else will bite. I'll switch to worms and it's on. It is a mystery. They are larger fish than bream on average, but their bite can hardly be felt. If I'm fishing and get a bite I can tell the difference and tell you wether it's a bream or shellcracker. A shell cracker will take the bait real easy then take the bobber down slow. When I set the hook thinking its a "stumpbumper"(that's what we call little panfish)it'll about take the rod out of my hand. A bream on the other hand will slam it to start with and you'll think you got a monster only to find a 6oz bream on the hook. Just remember cricket bream, worm shellcracker. Anyone agree... if you disagree:p
    Stumpbumper, I agree completely with you on the fact that shell crackers, we call them chickapins, will hit on worms ten times better than they will on crickets. If you catch one on a cricket it is usually an accident. Once I catch one, I switch to worms.
    Shadow
    Dwyane
    The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary!

    SMILE- A curve that can set a lot of things straight!

  5. #5
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    i had a old guy tell me if you want to catch shellcrackers you need to have your hook near the bottom when fishing in shallow water in the spring i catch shellcrackers on small tube jigs

  6. #6
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    Thumbs up Shell Crackers on bottom

    Some of the old-timers in Louisiana will tell you that in the shallow water take the butt end of your pole and probe around on bottom until you start hearing a crunch and that is where you need to start fishing for shell crackers. This is b/c the s.c's eat the small snails and mollusks on the bottom so the guy who told you to fish around the bottom was telling you right in my opinion.
    Shadow
    Dwyane
    The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary!

    SMILE- A curve that can set a lot of things straight!

  7. #7
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    Is it true that shellcrackers go on the bed one week befor the full moon and bream go on the full moon,and is this the best time to fish for them.

  8. #8
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    I've never caught one. My new neighbor caught about 6 one day last fall on Barkley Lake and he also told me to use redworms on the bottom. I would like to try for some myself but only after the crappie slow down.Where would you look for them in the spring?

  9. #9
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    Taz--I live on barkley and fish for shellcrckers on a regular basis. If you want to catch them off the beds, look for the mustard grass growing near or on a gravel bank and fish just off the grass line. I use jigs tipped with a wax worm and an ultra-light rig. It is loads of fun when you tie into a 2lb+ shellcracker on that outfit. After the spawn go to deepr water over a gravel bottom and fish with redworms or leeches right on the bottom. In late summer there will be a multitude of snails to be found around the shoreline rocks. Just gather some snails and bust them open and use the meat inside to fish in 10ft or so of water on the gravel bottom.

  10. #10
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    We fish out of Bumpus Mills Saline Creek in Tennessee on Barkley just alittle south of you. What are you calling mustard grass? Is that the weeds that grow out in the lake with the yellow flowers? Most that I've seen are in shallow flats. At what time of the year do you target these fish? I saw where my neighbor was anchored last fall and he was fishing a log jam at the mouth of a small creek on the main lake. I've been fishing Barkley now for about 10 yrs now and have never caught one yet.

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