Let’s Get Fishing
It’s the first week of April and we just had a Blue Moon (two full moons in the same month) so the Shellcrackers should be moving in to spawn.
Searching For The Shellcrackers – The Signs Are There
We are in Tavares Florida on a chain of lakes searching for the Bully of Bluegills, which should be spawning. The spawning signs we look for are; a full moon (it just ended), the Gar-Pike spawning (very active), the Gators are very active (yes see video), and water temperature. Unfortunately the water temps were lower than we were hoping for.
How We Started Our Search
We first started by checking out every spot where we have caught Shellcrackers in the past. Next we spent hours moving down the shoreline and dropping our freshwater shrimp, only stopping when we ran into a small school of Copperheads (Bluegills).
Where Are Those Bullies
So why could we not find the Shellcrackers? My guess is the spawning season was pushed back a few days or a week due to an abnormal cool Spring and high water. For this first week of April the water was two feet higher than normal, very murky, and water temps a little lower than we like. Or due to the high water the Shellcrackers found areas to spawn that we could not get to or find.
The Catch – Copperheads
Even though we could not find any Shellcrackers we did have a great time fishing and catching Copperheads. See our video on the catch!
The Bait – Freshwater Shrimp
Our bait again this year was the Freshwater Shrimp. I like this bait for the main reason it’s native to the lake and easy to net. On this trip we caught the following fish using shrimp; Bullheads, Bass, Crappies, & Copperheads.
