The Hottest Bream Bite I have Ever Experienced

[FishinsMyLife]

I headed down to our private pond early yesterday with hopes of catching a lot of bream and some big bass. The big bass part didn't happen, with the biggest bass going 2lbs 1oz caught on a Baby Wake, although I caught around 25 other bass from 3/4 of a pound to 1 1/2 pounds. The bream were caught on crickets, and the bass were caught on everything I threw at them. The smallest bream I caught was around 1/2 a pound. The biggest three are in the picture.


Stringer Full of Bass and Bream

Bluegill in my right hand: 1lb 0oz. Bluegill in my left hand: 14oz. Shellcracker in my left hand(back fish): 15oz

Biggest Bass

 

[Captain Ahab]

Nice 'gills (we call them bluegills here) - how do you prepare them?

 

[FishinsMyLife]

Cut off the head, scale 'em, gut 'em and fry 'em up. We only kept some of the big bluegills. We gave the rest away.

 

[Jim]

Those are some fat fish, the kind you see at in the Basspro shop tanks! =D>

 

[phased]

Nice stringer of fish. I love the action when the bluegills are hitting.

 

[jkbirocz]

Awesome catch. It looks like you had a blast

 

[G3_Guy]

Wow! Those are some big Bluegill. Nice Job! =D>

 

[slim357]

Man with bluegill that big there should be some monster bass in your lake

 

[mtnman]

Nice fish you caught there. Catching bluegill like that you will never go hungry. They are pretty good eating. I cooked up about 5lb of crappie the other day when I had some company but I didnt get to eat much, all my buddies were eating them faster than I could cook them. Good job!

 

[Waco]

Those are some nice bluegills man. Gotta give some love to the crickets some times. Even bass anglers like me have to throw a bobber ever know and again. Thats a shellcracker on the right isn't it guys, at least thats what we call it down here, aka redear sunfish...Good Fishing

 

[mtnman]

Thats a shellcracker on the right isn't it guys

What the hell is a shellcracker? I never heard that one before!

 

[Captain Ahab]

Thats a shellcracker on the right isn't it guys

What the hell is a shellcracker? I never heard that one before!

We call them Red Eared Sunfish here

 

[3weight]

Thats a shellcracker on the right isn't it guys

What the hell is a shellcracker? I never heard that one before!

They have a lot of other names. I have always called them shellcrackers, but a lot of folks around here call them leather ears.

See this link:
https://www.ncwildlife.org/pg03_Fishing/profiles/pages/Redear.htm

 

[Waco]

We call them shellcracker too. Im not sure why. But there even listed in the Arkansas Game and Fish Book as Redear Sunfish(shellcracker). State record is 2lb, 14 ounces. They also have really thick bodies and some of the fishes backs are as thick as a 2 or 3 pound bass. Really strong fighters as well. If you've never caught any and want to, your in for a treat.....

 

[Captain Ahab]

They make great Catfish bait - that is about my only use for them.

I wish they ate white perch :roll:

 

[3weight]

...State record is 2lb, 14 ounces. ..

NC State Record is 4lb 6oz. They are a lot of fun to catch, especially this time of year when they are bedding.

 

[FishinsMyLife]

Yeah, that one in my left hand in the back is a shellcracker. It had been a long time since I had caught one of those out of that pond. The bluegill outnumber them, but on that trip I caught 2 or 3 of them, all within 2 or 3 ounces of a pound. The bluegills and the redears fight well. I hooked one and it turned sideways and saw the round flash of light underwater and thought it was a huge bass opening its mouth trying to throw the hook. It took drag and my drag is not loose.

...there should be some monster bass in your lake

I wish. My dad caught a 10+ out of there and let it go a few years ago, but in total, we have caught 4 or 5 fish over 5 pounds out of there in the last 10 years. It is the beat bream pond I have ever fished in, but for big bass, you'll have to get really lucky to hook one.