The Shellcracker goes by a number of names, including Redear Sunfish, Sun Perch and Georgia Bream.

Shellcracker resembles a Bluegill but is somewhat larger, averaging 7″-9″ in length.  They like warm, quiet water near logs and vegetation.  Their favorite foods are snails and other shelled creatures, and they have grinding teeth in their throat to consume them with.   They do not train to feed, and need an established pond, or a very heavy stocking of Fathead Minnows if you have a new pond without insects and frogs in residence.

They can eat the parasites that put worms in fish, which is a neat insurance policy for your pond if that doesn’t appeal to you.  They are helpful in the management of fish parasites like the black and yellow grub, which can afflict Bass and Catfish, as well as other Sunfish and Minnows.  By the way, eating fish with grubs (removing the grubs first from the flesh) is safe to do if you cook the flesh completely to a flaky white meat.

Shellcracker feed almost exclusively on the bottom of ponds and lakes, looking for snails and crustaceans.  They cannot be trained to eat floating pellets.  Bottom fishing with natural bait like crickets, mussels, grass shrimp and worms or small crayfish seem to be most effective.  They don’t seem to find artificial lures especially appealing.  

Shellcracker spawn around the full moon, so many Anglers consider 3 days before and 3 days after the full moon to be the best time to catch them.  When hooked they are a great fighting fish on the line.