Shellcracker ?

[CrappieMan]

I saw a few today near this rocky bank but I couldn't get them to hit anything... I kept catching bluegill from around them but they wouldn't take any of my offerings... I tried purple redemption tm, bison tm, white tm, bulldog tm, and a few ultra light crank baits... The tm's I tipped with crappie nibbles. Do you all tip your tm's when fishing for shellcracker? I've never fished for them but I'm thinking I'll need to start fishing some red worms, night crawlers, or small crawdads. Any tips? Also was thinking using a #6 octopus hook or #6 aberdeen (think that's okay)? The ones I saw were pretty good size and it got my blood flowing lol

[Alphahawk]

I saw a few today near this rocky bank but I couldn't get them to hit anything... I kept catching bluegill from around them but they wouldn't take any of my offerings... I tried purple redemption tm, bison tm, white tm, bulldog tm, and a few ultra light crank baits... The tm's I tipped with crappie nibbles. Do you all tip your tm's when fishing for shellcracker? I've never fished for them but I'm thinking I'll need to start fishing some red worms, night crawlers, or small crawdads. Any tips? Also was thinking using a #6 octopus hook or #6 aberdeen (think that's okay)? The ones I saw were pretty good size and it got my blood flowing lol

What you witnessed today is a regular event with shell cracker that will last from 2-5 days before they do the spawn. It doesn't matter what you fish with during that period they will not hit it. If you go back to same location each day you will eventually get them to hit. More than likely you will go back there and they will be gone. If you will fish out in the deeper water from where you saw them you can probably find them as they usually just move adjacent to their beds....they just go deeper. I have witnessed this on many occasions over the years. Ran into it this year also down at VFW about a month ago. Three years ago me and a friend had 5 beds of shell cracker spotted at VFW with 30-40 shell cracker on each bed in very shallow water in the gravel. We tried for 5 hours to get one...couldn't get a single fish. One thing that can work but takes patience is to get a small minnow....kill it.....then drop it in the bed and wait. A shell cracker may eventually pick it up just to move it out of the bed...not to eat it. When he picks it up set the hook. But that can be a very long wait. I have tipped TM's before and whether it helps or not I am not sure. A friend and I fished this week and we caught a ton of fish with Trout Magnets....didn't need any nibbles at all.


Regards