Shellcrackers on artificials

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cotton
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Shellcrackers on artificials

Post by cotton »

Every year another obsession

I'll be making my annual trip North to fill my Mom's freezer next week. Because she only likes panfish, it takes a lot of fish. All will be caught on artificials. I've decided this year to spend some time targetting redears. From all my reading, its not easy to catch large numbers on artificials. Most years, I limit out on gills and crappie without catching a single redear. My research on the net indicates 1/32 oz dark deer hair jigs are the most effective. I checked every store in town and didn't find a one. I don't tie flies. Maybe next year.

Here is what I came up with.

Basspro had these on sale. 1 dozen for $1.49 regular $4.99 in the fly department.

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I cut up some soft plastics and threaded over the head. Then with a needle & thread a single rubber thru the plastic.

Here is the end result.
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The color choices are endless:
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And I did a few without rubber legs for crappie.

I'm confident it will catch gills, but what about redears? Ideas?
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Re: Shellcrackers on artificials

Post by jsuber »

I do pretty well with a black/yellow beetle spin with out the spin in Georgia.
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Re: Shellcrackers on artificials

Post by capncrunch »

Are you still going to continue tipping them with something?
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Re: Shellcrackers on artificials

Post by cotton »

capncrunch wrote: Mon May 15, 2017 9:03 am Are you still going to continue tipping them with something?
Absolutely, it never hurts and often helps.

Crappie niblets when I'm catching crappie.
Pieces of worm, or gulp maggots for gills.
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Re: Shellcrackers on artificials

Post by BloodyChamp »

I have rarely caught Shellcrackers on artificials. They're only about 80 feet down in between rocks where I fish. If I knew a doable place to fish for them on artificials I would go with the above methods. They're always deep if not on the bottom completely and they're more into rocks and dams more than logs or grass like other panfish as far as structure.
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Re: Shellcrackers on artificials

Post by cotton »

I caught a lot more redear this year. Still only 10 of the 200 fish I cleaned for Mom were redear. Here is an example of why I tried to target them. Other than Crappie we rarely find other panfish this size in Northern MO.

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Re: Shellcrackers on artificials

Post by WannaDoDat »

Bigguns!!! How did your MacGuyered lures work out, Tim?
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Re: Shellcrackers on artificials

Post by cotton »

WannaDoDat wrote: Sun Jun 04, 2017 3:51 pm Bigguns!!! How did your MacGuyered lures work out, Tim?

Not so well. They caught fish, but didn't hold up. 2-3 fish before needed replacing. I got 12
months until next time.
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Re: Shellcrackers on artificials

Post by WannaDoDat »

cotton wrote: Sun Jun 04, 2017 7:24 pm
WannaDoDat wrote: Sun Jun 04, 2017 3:51 pm Bigguns!!! How did your MacGuyered lures work out, Tim?

Not so well. They caught fish, but didn't hold up. 2-3 fish before needed replacing. I got 12
months until next time.
Good thing they were an inexpensive experiment.
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Re: Shellcrackers on artificials

Post by H_luciae »

Not sure if we talked when you were at BP back in May. But next time, try wooly buggers for redears. I tie them in several colors- black and olive. Those are some of my mainstays here and elsewhere. I have been trying to get BP to order them in those colors for several months. Stop in on a Saturday when I typically work there and lets talk!
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