Thread: How many of you chase shellcrackers in late fall going into wintertime?

Originally Posted by DockShootinJack

That emoji scares me when I see it.

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Just interested in learning.

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.

Sent from my SM-S908U1 using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

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 .

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 .....

DRAG A 1/32 JIG(USUALLY BLACK ) TIPPED WITH A MEAL WORM .