BY THE NUMBERS
4.13 Weight in pounds of the Georgia-record redear sunfish
50 Daily aggregate limit per angler for all sunfish species
225 Surface acres of water in Hamburg Lake
The bream spawn is kicking off throughout Georgia during the last half of this month. “Bream” is a common term covering several species of sunfish. Redear and redbreast sunfish, along with bluegills, are included in that catch-all name.
The first of these to begin bedding are the redear sunfish, which are more commonly referred to as shellcrackers. The name comes from the species’ preferred forage of mollusks and crustaceans. The fish crack open the shells of those prey species when feeding.
Shellcrackers also are some of the biggest bream caught in the state each year. Individual fish of up to 3 pounds are recorded annually.
Those bigger shellcrackers usually are taken during the spawn, which starts around the full moon in April. That moon occurs next Tuesday this year. Bedding continues into May, with the other bream species joining in around the May full moon.
The spawning areas are pretty ease to identify. The fish congregate in shallow water with a sand or gravel bottom and use their tails to fan out circular bowls. These spawning areas have the appearance of a cratered moonscape.
Tossing a hook baited with an earthworm or cricket into or around those beds usually provokes a bite. These fish are so prolific that catching them from the bedding areas has no adverse effect on the population.
Shellcrackers are found in many small ponds around the state. Lakes Clarks Hill, Hamburg, Juliette, Seminole and Tugaloo are five of our larger public waters that are noted for good numbers of these fish.
Hamburg Lake is the most accessible of those from metro Atlanta. The impoundment on the Little Ogeechee River is located to the east near the hamlet of Mitchell in Glascock County. It is situated in Hamburg State Outdoor Recreation Area.
Visit gastateparks.org/info/hamburg for more details on the lake and adjoining facilities.
