Thread: first 2021 shellcracker..

Originally Posted by jawjatek

There's not much info out there on them. I have 7-8 books on crappie fishing, none on redears. Would like to learn more about their biology, habits, and such.

Richard Gene has some videos on chasin crackers that might have some info you don’t. I’d like a few of those like you have in your hand for the table.. that size has some nice fillets. That’s a great fish.

I've seen all the RGTFM videos. Been a fan for years.

Winter and spring one can find them. Summer is difficult in most big bodies of water. The older guides in Alabama refer to shell cracker as the “Mystery fish” as they are not quite sure where they go in the summer. In the lakes I fish they are also known to move back on the banks in the Fall of the year. Dale Hollow has tons of big shell cracker...but come summer you would be more apt to win the lottery than catch more than a few. I get them in the dead lock in late fall but they are only in the 7-9 inch range. On Center Hill it is pretty much the same.....although the walleye guys do catch them trolling their crawler harnesses on the bottom in about 30 feet of water. Some say they have another spawn in the Fall of the year but there is no proof of that. I’ve never found any beds in the Fall. I think where folks come up with that is because they catch them off the bank in the Fall and they assume they are on bed. I haven’t really targeted them in summer for a number of years.....since I am subject to only spend about 4 hours fishing per day in the summer I just don’t want to put in the work.....LOL. The crappie and Spots are pretty easy for me in those months. When based at Redstone I would fish same spots as Richard Gene below Guntersville in winter and wear them out....but that was almost 50 years ago. Hope you get into a bunch more.

Regards


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Good fish there, hope you can find some more this Spring.

I have been waiting several weeks for Garmin to ship my replacement GT54UHD transducer (returned under warranty after losing one side of SV), so I have not had SV or DV to scan for bream beds, and have just been using my PLS to locate crappie. I ride along the shoreline very slow, scanning from about 20' deep to the bank. The past 2 trips I've see some crappie-sized (on the screen) fish, up shallow near structure, but they would not bite a crappie jig, and seemed kinda skittish. I suspect they might have been shellcrackers, so the next time out (super windy today) I will have one rod ready to go with a small squirrel-tail jig, and some red wigglers to tip it with. When I get on shellcrackers, I forget all about the crappie.

Anyway, my transducer has finally shipped, and tracking shows it arrives tomorrow - just in time to start looking for beds this upcoming full moon period.

That's a big beasty nice job

thats a beauty
my first one this year was only 8 inches but it made my day none the less

Originally Posted by jawjatek

There's not much info out there on them. I have 7-8 books on crappie fishing, none on redears. Would like to learn more about their biology, habits, and such.

The past two years I’ve been lucky enough to find them moving up shallow right after the crappie finish spawning.
I’ve always heard they are bottom feeders. Natural food is muscles, crawfish, etc.
I catch them on my own hand tied black jigs. Sometimes on the same trees and cover that had spawning crappie.
Fun stuff, boy do they fight!


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