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Crackin' The Code
 Keith Lusher
When it comes to fishing, there’s always something more we can learn to better our chances of catching more fish. But how about bream fishing? It’s a simple bobber and hook with either a worm or a cricket. How much more advanced can you get?
Ray Miller of Madisonville has been bream fishing all his life and said one of his favorite bream to target are shell crackers. Through the years Miller has leaned more about these fish experimenting with different techniques. I made a trip to the Tchefuncte River with Miller to learn how he specifically targets these fish which are highly prized in South Louisiana because of their girth and the thick fillets they produce. We launched at the 4th Ave. launch in Covington and headed south under the I-12 overpass. About a half mile past the overpass, Miller turned into a canal just off of the river. After throwing down his trolling motor he opened a styrofoam box of night crawlers and handed one to me. They were fluorescent green. Miller adds product called Worm-Glo. “It’s actually worm food. They eat it and it turns them bright green,” he said. After hooking the worm, I casted out next to the shoreline and waited. Miller casted out and immediately caught a 7-inch shell cracker. Then I joined in on the action as my cork shot under. I reeled in a 6-inch bluegill.
This stretch of cypress trees put several shall crackers in the ice chest
As we trolled down the shoreline casting into indentations along the bank, I noticed Miller was catching shell crackers and I was catching bluegill. The 73-year-old told me a little about what he’s learned about the fish through the years. “Shell crackers like the bait moving so when you cast out, let it sit for a second, then slowly lift your rod tip pulling the cork towards you,” he said. I did exactly what he said and sure enough, my cork shot under as I was pulling it towards me. Immediately, the shell cracker splashed the surface and I reeled it in. “That’s another thing about these fish. When you set the hook on them, they head towards the surface,” Miller said.
After learning this subtle adjustment I was able to catch shell crackers on the majority of my casts. 
Like most perch jerkers in South Louisiana, Miller loves shell crackers because of the fillets they produce. “If you look closely at shell crackers you’ll notice that they are thicker than regular bream. This makes for a really nice fillet after you’re done cleaning them,” he said. After fishing until noon we were able to put together a stringer of 30 fish, all caught in about two feet of water. Miller said the spawn should go strong through the rest of the month and advises using night crawlers rigged three feet under a pencil cork.
A pencil cork and green worms was all it took for a healthy stringer of Tchefuncte River bream
Tournament Results It was great weather for the 25 anglers that showed up to fish the Double Nickel Bass Tournament on Tuesday. The beautiful day translated to great fishing as most of the boats caught a limit. After all was said and done, Guy Steigall came in with 7.71 pounds to claim first place. Steigall also caught the 2nd place Big Bass which was a 4.37-pound fish. Rob Roberts placed second with 7.65 pounds. Roberts also won the big bass division with a bass that weighed 5.29 pounds. In third place was Bob Perry with a limit weighing 6.52 pounds. 
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 Keith Lusher
I created NFR.com in the spring of 2012. Since then it has helped link Northshore fishermen to valuable information and has filled the void of absent information on the web about fishing on the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain. Northshore Fishing Report has morphed into a brand name and can be found not only on the web, but on radio and newspaper. As NFR grows I will continue to work hard at keeping NFR local focusing on local anglers, reports, seminars, and fishing tournaments in St. Tammany and Tangipahoa Parish. I hope you enjoy the website and If you have any questions please email me at: Keith@NorthshoreFishingReport.com
Look for the Northshore Fishing Report publication every Thursday in The Slidell Independent Weekly Newspaper!
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Ron Hindman of Slidell joins the NFR Studio to talk about his 11-pound trophy bass he caught in the West Pearl River
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