Fish Shearon Harris Lake’s extensive grass beds and fill your cooler with feisty, tasty shellcrackers.
Overshadowed by its notoriety as a trophy bass and crappie lake — the once-belittled white perch even is beginning to draw a crowd — it’s no wonder the redear sunfish or shellcrackers in Shearon Harris Lake feel a bit left out.
While the wealth of aquatic vegetation at the 4,100-acre lake has been credited for the rise of its coveted population of larsgemouth bass, the grass has also helped shellcrackers become the dominant panfish.
According to guide Greg Griffin of Holly Springs, the milfoil, elodea, primrose and hydrilla are magnets for a thriving community of sunfish. But narrowing the field of grasses will put a feather in the cap of the panfish chaser and keep a steady bow in his rod.
“I like an area where the grass only comes out from the bank a short distance and then drops straight down,” said Griffin, who runs Greggofish Guide Service. “The fish like to patrol the edges of those grass mats in 6 to 11 feet of water. They are more grass-oriented than any other sunfish I know of. They will be wherever it is, but in June, they are usually on the main lake.
“From the fishing pier at Harris Lake Park up to the bridge has grass all the way down the bank; that’s a great place to start, even the bridge itself,” said Griffin, “But I’ve caught them good as anywhere in the coves near the dam. From the dam up towards Cary Branch, there is cove after cove with laydowns from the tornado of 2013, and there is grass in most of them. The shellcrackers have taken to that combination.”
In addition to grass, Griffin finds his fair share of ’crackers near both boat ramps. Keying in on the blowout holes where loading boats blast an indentation into the lake bottom, he calls the Cross Pointe Ramp near the dam his favorite but said the Holleman Ramp is a hot spot as well.
One of the perks of shellcracker fishing is the simplicity of rigging. Griffin prefers a Carolina rig with about an ⅛-ounce weight or simply a few split-shot pinched far enough from the hook to give him a leader of 2 to 3 feet. Even a drop-shot rig is acceptable. He likes a long-shank, No. 6 Tru-Turn hook, shying away from flashy, gold hooks, believing shellcrackers to be smarter than the average panfish. A bronze, black nickel or red hook that will fade from the color spectrum at 5 to 6 feet deep is his go-to.
“The primary bait that I use 99-percent of the time is night crawlers,” said Griffin. “I break them into 1-inch pieces and hook them where they dangle off the hook. If you thread them onto the hook, they don’t work as well. It’s all about the angle of the dangle. I cast it to the edge of the grass and let it sit; sometimes I bring it back real slow. That’s where the dangle comes in; it gives the bait some action.”
While a slip-cork rig is a viable option, Griffin said that it must be set to rest the bait on the bottom where the fish are best caught. The reason for this is as simple as their name.
“I think it’s because the mussels live on the bottom,” said Griffin, “that’s a huge part of their forage.”
Although redear sunfish are unlikely to turn down an easy meal, tackling anything from crayfish to juvenile shad, aquatic clams and snails are their mainstays; they use the grinding teeth in their throat to break them down. A good way to find a patch of grass with a healthy supply of mussels nearby is to notice the nearest bank. Muskrats, otters, raccoons, geese and ducks all eat them and often litter the shoreline with discarded shells.
Shellcrackers also make a very willing target for fly fishermen. Choosing a rod in the 4- to 5-weight class and a tippet of 6 to 8 pounds will make for a sporting outfit. Attach a bead-head Woolly Bugger, Pheasant Tail nymph or a shrimp pattern in a No. 8 to No. 10 size and have at it. Adding a small split-shot to help the fly to the bottom will prove beneficial.
Griffin admits he didn’t originally target shellcrackers for sport; he was just gathering catfish bait. But after learning their surroundings and habits, he became an expert at loading his livewell, and he grew an affinity for the scrappy panfish.
“It’s the only lake in the Triangle that has sunfish like that,” said Griffin. “I can’t catch them anywhere as big as I catch them on Harris. The average size is about one-half pound, maybe pushing three-quarters. If you get into a good school of them, I wouldn’t be surprised to see one up to a pound-and-a half. But I’ve never caught one any bigger than that.”
“I don’t think many people fish for them, but I have seen a couple of guys with a cooler full,” said Griffin. “If you kept at all day, you could probably catch 40 to 100. You can catch bluegills with them, too — sometimes more of them than shellcrackers. They’re not 10 inches, but they’re big.”
DESTINATION INFORMATION
HOW TO GET THERE — A short ride south from Raleigh on US 1, Shearon Harris Lake can be accessed from two public boat ramps: Cross Point Landing on the lower end on Cross Point Road off NC 42, and Holleman’s Crossing on Bartley-Holleman Road off US 1 at mid-lake.
WHEN TO GO — Mid-May through June are peak times to catch shellcrackers at Shearon Harris, but they are game all summer long, even when other species become sluggish due to high water temperatures.
BEST TECHNIQUES — Target grass beds that reach out from the bank and stop abruptly, forming a wall of weeds in 6 to 11 feet of water. Look for the shells of freshwater clams on banks as a sign of abundant food. Light and ultralight spinning outfits spooled with 6-pound mono are best. Slip floats, Carolina rigs and drop-shot rigs are all productive as long as the bait stays on the bottom. An 1/8-ounce weight and No. 6 hook will get things done. Fish a 1-inch section of night crawler rigged to dangle off the hook.
FISHING INFO/GUIDES — Greg Griffin, Greggofish Guide Service, 919-434-4183, www.greggofish.com; The Tackle Box, Fuquay-Varina, 919-557-8255. See also Guides and Charters in Classifieds.
ACCOMMODATIONS — Hampton Inn and Suites, Holly Springs, 800-230-4134; Comfort Inn, Apex, 800-997-5148; Holiday Inn Express, Apex, 800-997-5149.
MAPS — Delorme North Carolina Atlas and Gazetteer, 207-846-7000, www.delorme.com; Fishing Hot Spots, 800-All-Maps, www.fishinghotspots.com.
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