I love chasing panfish of all types. Who am I kidding I chase all types of fish and usually am fishing for what ever I can beg to bite. But the elusive shellcracker just keeps skunking me. Just wondering what different ways everyone fishes for them late in the year. I seem to just luck into them this late. No specific pattern, I usually find them in chunky rock near a little deeper channel at the mouth of coves or creek inlets. I mainly fish for them with a dropshot or jig tipped with a little bit a night crawler. I'm just curious how you guys chase them, or if any of you even do this late.
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That emoji scares me when I see it.
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S10CHEVY LIKED above post
Just interested in learning.
The love for fishing is one of the best gifts you can pass alongDWILL LIKED above post
I don't quite worry about it here like in other places. Usually on other sites somebody is getting roasted once that emoji pops up.
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CTPanfisher LIKED above post
Don't believe roasting would be tolerated here. I have witnessed it on other sites for sure. Some of them get down right mean. Slab and the Mods make sure it is calm and tame here. Makes for a nice atmosphere
Interesting subject .
I catch shellcrackers occasionally year round out of our town pond .
When it cools down I use a 1/16 dropshot rig with jigs , both hand tied and plastics .
Mainly to fish slowly near the bottom but with the dropshot I kept my jigs out of the muck on the bottom.
The pond and one of my local water reservoirs have shellcracker in them .
I’ve also caught some small ones out of the bigger reservoir I fish , but only during warm weather when they are near shore .
Not ever lake or pond around here have them .
If you use live bait , I would think a worm on a dropshot rig would be a great way to locate them .
“ The bigger the Bend , the Wider the Grin ! “DWILL, Spoonminnow LIKED above post
I have great success in my Missouri lake this time of year, using a combination spider rig/tightline setup.
Right now, we have huge schools roaming flat, hard bottom areas close to creek channels, and close to deep water. NOTE : My temp is waaaayyyy off ! It's more like 68 or so surface temp !
I usually run 2 or 3, 14 to 16 foot rods, on a spider rig mount out in front of the boat, rigged with 8 pound hi-vis mono to a swivel, with a 4 pound leader. The leader is dropshot rigged with a number 2 Eagle Claw baitkeeper hook, on a 1 to 2 inch loop knot, loaded with a 1/2 inch chunk of night crawler, about a foot above a 1/2 to 3/4 oz weight on the bottom.
I slow troll, or "push" these rigs at 0.1 to 0.3 mph, in a zig zag pattern, back and forth across previously scouted waters. Electronics, and a good trolling motor really help me find and stay on these schools, and I find they really don't travel too far in the course of a 2 or 3 hour expedition. Sometimes they don't move for days, especially when large schools of bait fish are in the area.
I target 13 to 20 feet of water, and continuously adjust to keep the weight barely bouncing the bottom, with the crawler just above the bottom. 14 to 16 feet seems to be the sweet spot for me in my lake. However, another fisherman (my main competition) does almost as well targeting 10 to 12 feet of water with similar techniques.
Here's a few from the other day .....
I would share more pics, but my internet delivers a BLAZING FAST speed of a whopping 1.3 mbs, and uploads are painfully slow !!!
Thanks Century Link .....
Hope this helps .....
I’m far from an expert but I’ve had some success with them this year. I’m dragging a dark colored jig just above the bottom in areas that I believe they’re bedding. If I catch any at times there isn’t a full moon close by it’s usually just one or two by chance. I’d love to have the secret that kept me on them all the time, they fight stronger than any other.