Bruiser Bluegill

[Fish_Tko]

Santee Cooper was the home of the GrandDaddy of all shell crackers.  I think the world record is or was from there 5 lbs. 7 oz.

[giller]

Awesome GILL. I need some of that action!

[high_flags]

WOW!!!   WOW!!!!   WOW!!!! 

[Greg2ha]

I have family down at Santee , South Carolina. They told me they have frisbee
sized gills there. You're right though, they call them shell crackers. Wow!
Also my friend at work lives on Knapp lake and his friends cottage had water come over the sea wall. When it receeded he found 3 11 1/2" gills laying in his yard. My
last blue gill tale is about a 13" gill found floating at iceout on a pond in SW Fort
Wayne. The fish was donated to a museum somewhere and the man who found
it photographed it. I will see if I can get a picture to post of it.
Greg

[bgause]

I thought Shell Cracker is the southern name for Redears.

[taxi1]

I thought Shell Cracker is the southern name for Redears.

It is. Two different species.

Bluegill - (Lepomis macrochirus)

Redear AKA Shellcracker - (Lepomis microlophus)





A male and female bluegill (Thank you Huskybass of Connecticut) Male on left female on right.



A male redear in peak spawning colors caught in Nebraska



A drab old female from Snow Lake, Indiana

[Greg2ha]

Where's the Grandkids!

[musky8it]

I thought Shell Cracker is the southern name for Redears.

Yes you are right. And mature gill and redear look similar, but not the same. A big gill will have a hump on its head, stuby nose/mouth and its main body is more round. The shellcraker or redear has no hump on its head, its more longer with pointed mouth, and it has a red flap....