Beautiful picture
Because of my wife’s doctor appointment this morning, I wasn’t able to get to the pond until around 2pm .
Checking the weather before I left home , they said sunny 59 degrees wind 5-10 .
When I got to the pond , it was sunny , but a bit breezy and within thirty minutes it turned cloudy and the wind picked up . ( got home , weather channel said gusts to 18mph )
I’d planned on trying some small plastics on a drop shot but didn’t do any good in my regular spot . I saw one area of sun on the dam and decided to try that .
That end of the dam is a shallow flat and sometimes the sun will warm that area and draw some fish into it .
I was fishing with a St Croix 6’ ULF Panfish rod , a KastKing Zephyr finesse 1000 reel and what turned out to be 6# p-line fluorescent green line . I picked up the wrong reel getting ready this morning and had forgotten I’d spooled up a reel for some wacky worm fishing .
It cast pretty good , considering the heavy line .
About the third cast on the dam side I felt a tap and thought I’d hooked a LM bass . Turned out to be a shellcracker.
I was using a Bison Trout Magnet on a 1/80th jighead , above a 1/16th weight .
Almost made the 10” mark .
The wind picked up and it turned completely cloudy and overcast , and although the weather on my phone said it was 59 degrees , my freezing hands said it was a lot colder than that .
After only an hour , I headed back home .
Maybe the sun will shine tomorrow and I can get back up there .
Beautiful picture
“If your too busy to fish, you’re too busy!” Buddy Ebsen
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heavenornot.netgillchaser999 thanked you for this post
Nice catch, and I like that you include the details of your tackle.
gillchaser999 thanked you for this post
Thanks guys ,
That shellcracker was the hardest gill to photograph . I would get him positioned and before I could snap a picture , he’d flop off the ruler .
He did this at least 10 times .
I had to wipe him off twice , and once I took a chance of losing him and dipped him back into the pond .
As soon as I got him back on the bank , he came unhooked .
I almost didn’t get a picture of it .
That os a good specimen
The love for fishing is one of the best gifts you can pass alonggillchaser999 thanked you for this post
Those shell crackers are feisty. Nice catch.
Check out my Instagram fishing pics:
https://www.instagram.com/fishfishwish/gillchaser999 thanked you for this post
Of the fish that share that shape, the ‘crackers are my favorite. I can tell what it is most times before I see it. If the strike of a redbreast could be joined with the power of a shellcracker, I’d fish for nothing else. Good pic of a nice fish, and a little time out is better than none. I have some fleece gloves without fingertips that have worked well on many cold trips, inexpensive too. If you find them and they aren’t tight on your hand, buy two pair. I wish I had done that with the ones I had with a leather palm, best ever. Compare all the ones I’ve had since to them.
Creativity is just intelligence fooling around
I agree , seems like redbreast stay hungry, but shellcracker fight the best. Bluegill are sort of a compromise.
And you best have a good hold on the shellcracker , they’ll fin the heck out of your hand .
I have some fingerless fishing gloves that have leather palms that I wear most of the time , partly to protect against ring finned .
Being on blood thinners, just a poke will bleed more than I want .
I keep antibiotic hand sanitizer in my truck and clean my hands after fishing and handling fish .
I get cold a lot easier than I used to . I think thats the blood thinners too.
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